Shortly before Christmas, storm “Zoltan” hits Germany. The strongest impacts are in the north. In Cologne, experts are currently investigating a suspected tornado.
The storm “Zoltan” has largely passed away after causing a lot of chaos on the roads and railways in northern Germany on Friday morning. Train travelers in particular had to be patient, some ferries in the north did not run and the subways in Hamburg were slower. There were icy accidents on the roads in Lower Saxony, and the German Weather Service (DWD) is investigating a suspected tornado in Cologne. There were deaths from the storm in the Netherlands and Belgium. The severe storm surge in Hamburg exceeded its peak in the late morning.
Weather service investigates suspected tornado in Cologne
The DWD is checking whether there was a tornado in the Poll district of Cologne, a spokeswoman said on Friday. The review is not yet complete, she emphasized. There is currently no confirmation.
There was severe storm damage in the district on the night from Thursday to Friday. Several media outlets reported that residents had reported a storm passing through the district. The weather website “Tornadoliste.de” initially classified the events as “suspicious”.
In Hamburg, the police gave the all-clear just a few hours after reaching the summit. The interior authorities were satisfied after the severe storm surge: “We were very well prepared and mastered the situation very well,” said a spokesman.
In the morning, the Hamburg fire department spoke of 170 storm and water-related operations without any injuries. In Schleswig-Holstein, too, the police and fire brigade had their hands full. They were called to more than 670 missions because of the storm.
Test of patience for train travelers
The storm had an enormous impact on train traffic. Many travelers didn’t get anywhere, and countless train cancellations were listed on the display boards in the train stations. Long-distance and local transport was affected nationwide – but the focus was in the north.
There were initially no express trains running from here in the morning to cities such as Hanover, Kassel, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Basel and Munich. In the afternoon the situation eased a little and the closures were largely lifted. “Long-distance trains are now running on the important north-south route between Hanover and Frankfurt, bringing important relief to pre-Christmas traffic,” the railway announced in the afternoon. Regional traffic also returned to normal.
The railway expects the trains to be very busy over the weekend – in addition to the already heavy Christmas traffic, there will now be travelers who had to postpone their journey to the weekend because of the storm: “It will certainly be full,” said a railway spokeswoman. What makes matters worse is that, according to the railway, further restrictions are on the horizon: “It is becoming apparent that repairing the damage on individual routes will take longer,” said the railway’s statement. There was also a serious case of non-ferrous metal theft on the Mannheim-Frankfurt route.
Fish auction hall in Hamburg completely flooded
The water of the Elbe pushed the heavy storm surge ashore and completely flooded the Hamburg fish market and the surrounding streets. The water was waist high in places. Since not all the cars were driven away in time, they too were flooded. During the night, the fire brigade and police were out in the region to search for people in the vehicles that were still parked in the flood area.
Due to the forecast for a severe storm surge, the Hamburg interior authority had set up a central disaster team. In the morning, sirens along the Elbe and messages via warning apps and social media warned of the storm surge.
There was definitely a lot to observe for onlookers along the banks of the Elbe in Hamburg – with some sunny moments. Because “Zoltan” had a wild weather mix of storms, blue skies with sunshine, sleet showers and continuous rain to offer in the north.
Hundreds of Hamburg residents and tourists took advantage of the severe storm surge on the Elbe for a pre-Christmas trip to the fish market. Along the promenade below the St. Pauli harbor stairs, they watched as the last cars were being driven or towed from the already flooded parking areas on the edge of the bank.
The fish auction hall was completely surrounded by the floodwaters. In the Große Elbstrasse behind it, which lies in front of the large flood gate at the fish market, the bus stop signs were only half sticking out of the water. The Elbe reached up to the facades of the houses at the fish market with their numerous shops and restaurants.
Interior Minister Faeser appeals for respect
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser thanked the emergency services in the country on Friday. “I would like to thank all the police, fire brigades, rescue services and THW who are on duty due to the current storms and floods.” Right now she would like to see more respect and recognition for police and rescue workers and volunteers. “This is especially true in these times of often harsh hostility and attacks that many of them have to experience,” said the SPD politician.
Falling Christmas tree kills woman at Christmas market
There was, however, a severe storm sequence in Belgium: a woman was killed by a 20-meter-high Christmas tree at a Christmas market. The coniferous wood could not withstand a strong gust of wind on Thursday evening, the Belga news agency reported. The tree fell on three people, one of whom died of serious injuries in hospital a short time later. The scene of the accident at the Christmas market in the town of Oudenaarde was cordoned off and examined after the accident.
A woman in the Netherlands also died in the violent storm. The 37-year-old was hit by a falling tree while riding her bike, the woman’s employer, a nursing facility, said on Friday. The accident occurred on Thursday in Wilp, about 100 kilometers east of Amsterdam.
The woman worked as a carer in the residential home for people with disabilities. She was riding a so-called duo bike with a resident when the tree fell. The other woman was slightly injured in the accident.
“Zoltan” continues to provide strong winds
“Zoltan” continued to bring strong winds along the coast on Friday. According to the German Weather Service, hurricane-like gusts of more than 100 kilometers per hour were possible in the evening. The wind should decrease slightly in the second half of the night and then become stronger again on Saturday evening, although not as strong as on Friday.
Inform before setting off
For the upcoming Christmas weekend, Deutsche Bahn recommends that its passengers check the timetable information in the “DB Navigator” app or on bahn.de before starting their journey. All passengers who have to postpone their planned trip on Friday or Saturday due to the storm can use their ticket at a later date, according to Deutsche Bahn. The train connection has been lifted. The ticket is valid for the journey to the original destination, even with a changed route. Seat reservations can be canceled free of charge.