BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – Two fatalities in an accident on a rainy street in the south, a lightning strike in a church in the north: After a sometimes severe change in the weather, thunderstorms and storms have led to emergencies and deployments of rescue workers in various parts of Germany. The German Weather Service (DWD) also pointed out strong thunderstorms in the evening with a local risk of severe weather in the south, in the middle and in the very west of the country.
Two dead in aquaplaning accident near Karlsruhe
Two people were killed in an accident on a rain-soaked road in Bruchsal, north of Karlsruhe. According to police, a 65-year-old’s car aquaplaned on federal highway 35 during a storm. There it collided with a vehicle in which a 55-year-old man and a woman who was one year younger were sitting – the two died in the collision. The 65-year-old was seriously injured and taken to hospital in a rescue helicopter. The federal highway was closed for several hours.
Aquaplaning occurs when a film of water forms between the car tire and the road when the road is wet. The tires can no longer displace the water quickly enough. The car loses traction, begins to float on the water and can no longer be steered or braked.
Elsewhere in Baden-Württemberg, the forecast storm clouds initially passed over the country without any major damage to property. “There was nothing. That passed us by,” said a spokesman for the police in Freiburg. In the Württemberg part, too, there were no major police operations due to the weather, despite two severe weather warnings for the administrative districts of Tübingen and Stuttgart.
Lightning strike in church in Osnabrück
The guests at a christening celebration in Osnabrück experienced a very special – and mildly shocking – moment: lightning struck the church where the celebration was being held. No one was injured, the police said. During the ceremony in the Pauluskirche there was suddenly a loud bang. At the same time, lightning struck the roof of a residential building in Melle in the Osnabrück district. There were no injuries here either, but there was a fire.
According to the police, some people present in the St. Paul’s Church briefly smelled the smell of fire, but the fire department found no damage. For the baptismal party it remained a horror – and an extraordinary story. According to the police, some of those involved spoke of an impressive “heavenly greeting” with a smile.
Storms are sweeping through Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia
In parts of Bavaria, too, the change in the weather after the heat resulted in numerous weather-related operations. Heavy thunderstorms, some with heavy rain and stormy gusts, uprooted trees, damaged vehicles and hindered traffic, according to police headquarters. A fallen beam from a church scaffolding hit a couple in Lower Bavaria and injured them slightly. On Autobahn 3 near Velburg in Upper Palatinate, three electricity pylons were snapped by the storm.
There were also weather-related operations in North Rhine-Westphalia, for example in the Soest district. “Around 200 emergency services were busy on Sunday afternoon and into the evening clearing up the consequences of the heavy rain and isolated fallen trees,” it said in a statement in the evening. Due to the consequences of the storm, the railway line between Unna and Soest is closed. It is not yet possible to estimate when the closure will end, the railway announced on the website www.zuginfo.nrw.
DWD: Probably no more thunderstorms on Monday
The German Weather Service said there could still be showers and thunderstorms from the Alps to the eastern center on Monday night, and heavy rain that could last for several hours. On Monday, the meteorological start of summer, there should be “probably no more thunderstorms” according to the DWD forecast from the evening./trs/DP/zb