The breather for the emergency services is short-lived: the next severe storm is looming in Germany as early as Friday afternoon. “Zeynep” could be even worse than low “Ylenia”, which caused train cancellations and fatal accidents on Thursday.
The focus of the new storm or even ork system is the northern half of Germany until Saturday morning, predict the meteorologists of the German Weather Service (DWD).
Parts of the states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Bremen, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, Thuringia and Saxony are affected.
In order to avoid damage and accidents, citizens should make appropriate preparations. “Everything that is on the terrace that is not nailed down is best brought in and put in the garage,” said Christopher Rehnert, head of the Lüdenscheid fire brigade, on Friday morning in the ARD “Morgenmagazin”. Flower boxes or other items should be removed from balconies.
Also read about this
► Storm low “Ylenia”: 1366 missions reported to the Berlin fire brigade
► After storm “Ylenia” – the next storm is already approaching
Between the North Sea and the High Rhine, the wind is expected to increase on Friday morning, and the next severe storm situation will begin in the afternoon – spreading from west to east.
From the evening hours, hurricane-like gusts, and isolated hurricane gusts of up to 120 kilometers per hour, can be expected there. The northern half of Brandenburg up to the Berlin area is particularly affected.
For the northern half of Germany, the DWD expects hurricane-like gusts and gusts of 100 to 140 km/h down to the lowlands. On the night of Saturday, the wind on the North Sea and in some high places could probably be even stronger.
For the German North Sea coast, there is again a storm surge warning for Friday. A spokesman for the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) said that storm surges are quite normal in themselves, but unusual in the frequency they are at the moment.
On the North Sea coast, one speaks of a storm surge when the flood water is at least 1.5 meters higher than normal. A severe or very severe storm surge is only spoken of from values of 2.5 or 3.5 meters.
It is also expected to be stormy on Saturday. According to the DWD, the wind is not expected to weaken significantly until Saturday evening.
The Berlin fire brigade deployed around 1,300 times
Hurricane low “Ylenia” had already led to thousands of operations since Wednesday evening. Many trees fell, there were accidents on the roads with some dead and injured, and rail traffic in the north came to a standstill in large parts. The Berlin fire brigade alone deployed around 1,300 missions by Thursday evening.
At least three drivers in Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt died in weather-related accidents – two were killed by falling trees, a third died when his trailer got into the oncoming lane in a storm and an accident occurred.
An incident for the people on a Hamburg harbor ferry went off lightly: On a stormy trip across the Elbe on Thursday morning, a large wave smashed the front windows of the ship. According to police, three passengers suffered minor injuries.
Rail traffic is normalizing
Most of the rail routes that were closed on Thursday are now open to traffic again. In particular, long-distance trains are again on the move between Berlin and Hamburg and between Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia, the railway said on Friday morning. Nevertheless, there are still restrictions due to blocked sections of the route in long-distance traffic.
On the route north of Berlin towards the Baltic Sea coast and north of Hamburg and Münster as well as the international connections from Frankfurt/Main and Berlin to Amsterdam, no ICE and Intercity trains would yet run. There are cancellations and delays.
In regional traffic, traffic has largely returned to normal. Impairments are still possible on individual connections in the areas particularly affected by the storm, such as parts of Lower Saxony.