After the severe storm surge on the Baltic Sea, millions of euros in damage are feared: Schleswig-Holstein is particularly affected – there were also floods in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Storms were also reported in Denmark and Great Britain.
One Heavy storm surge hit the Baltic Sea coast and especially in Schleswig-Holstein caused major damage. A woman died on the Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn. She was killed in her car by a falling tree. According to the city administration, the water level in Flensburg was at times 2.30 meters above normal during the night – the highest level in more than 100 years. Parts of the port area were flooded.
The storm surge on the Baltic Sea coast has now weakened significantly. The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency in Rostock announced that the water levels should fall below the critical mark of one meter above normal during the morning. The storm surge warning has been lifted.
On Saturday morning, the power was still cut off in some of the flood areas and roads were closed. The city of Flensburg expected to be able to lift these measures later in the day. The mayor of the city of Flensburg, Fabian Geyer, spoke of “extreme flooding”. But the worst is over: “Today we’ll have to clean up.”
Dikes broken, evacuations, high water levels
Other towns in Schleswig-Holstein were also affected by the storm surge. Hundreds of emergency services were employed – for pump operations, security activities and clean-up work. In the Schleswig-Flensburg district, dikes broke in at least three places – for example in the Schleistadt Arnis. There was significant damage to infrastructure facilities there, as the Schleswig-Flensburg district announced. In the Maasholm area, a dike broke near Gut Oehe. Residents here were also evacuated. In the morning it was seen that several sailing boats had sunk in the harbor. According to the information, a third dike breach occurred in Weidefeld, south of the Olpenitz harbor.
The harbor in Schleswig was flooded. There are voluntary evacuations in the old town of Eckernförde, as a spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry said. In the Bay of Lübeck the water also overflowed its banks in many places. In addition, unsecured objects and falling trees partially blocked the roads in Lübeck and the Ostholstein district.
High damage feared
The head of the disaster control department in the Interior Ministry of Schleswig-Holstein told the dpa news agency on Saturday night that he expected flood damage to be in the three-digit million range. “With the first light of day you will be able to see the damage more clearly,” said Ralf Kirchhoff. The actual extent of the damage will probably become apparent during the morning. Kirchhoff assumes that the damage to flood protection systems or buildings will sometimes be significant.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was also affected by the storm surge – the situation there is slowly calming down. The fire department of the Vorpommern-Rügen district estimates the extent of the storm in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to be rather mild. According to a spokesman, the water is now slowly receding in the flooded areas. However, according to the Hanseatic city of Wismar, the level is falling more slowly than expected. Individual streets and intersections are therefore still impassable or closed. In Rostock the water level reached almost 1.50 meters above normal during the night.
Rail traffic is slowly returning to normal, but there are still disruptions
After the storm and flood, rail traffic in northern Germany slowly returned to normal in the morning. According to Deutsche Bahn, the disruptions have been resolved on most long-distance and local transport routes. However, the clean-up and repair work on some sections of the route continued. According to the information, there may also be occasional delays or cancellations.
Some ferry connections to the islands and Halligen are still affected on Saturday. The eastern storm drove the North Sea water out of the Wadden Sea, so shipping traffic had to be restricted. Ferry traffic between Germany and Denmark started again on Saturday. As the shipping company Scandlines announced, ships had been sailing on the Puttgarden-Rødby route again since early this morning.
According to the German Weather Service, the storm and storm surge were triggered by strong differences in air pressure between a low over Western Europe and a pronounced high over Scandinavia.
Damage also abroad
The storm also caused severe damage in other European countries. Three people died in the storms in Great Britain on Friday. In Denmark, the police had asked residents and holidaymakers on the Baltic Sea coast in the south and east of Denmark to leave the coastal area.
The easterly wind also caused restrictions in Denmark’s neighboring countries Sweden and Norway. In southern Sweden there were closures of train routes and flooding, the TT news agency reported on Friday