Storm surge “Nadia” causes severe damage in northern Germany

Hamburg Storm depression “Nadia” swept across northern Germany with dangerous gusts and caused several serious accidents. In Beelitz, Brandenburg, a pedestrian died because an election poster was blown over and fell on him.

In Bremen, a person suffered serious injuries in a park when a tree fell on him. With top speeds of up to almost 130 kilometers per hour, “Nadia” swept across many parts of northern Germany on Sunday night.

The highest wind speed was measured on Hallig Hooge (Nordfriesland district) at 127 km/h, said a meteorologist from the German Weather Service (DWD) on Sunday morning. Peak speeds of 119 km/h were measured in List on Sylt, Kap Arkona on Rügen and Glücksburg near Flensburg.

According to the police, there were hundreds of operations in Hamburg alone. A severe storm flood flooded the fish market in the Altona district. According to the BSH, the apex was reached at around 12:17 a.m.

The water level at the St. Pauli level was 2.84 meters above the mean high water level, as a spokeswoman said. As a dpa photographer reported, hundreds of onlookers were drawn to the fish market. Several cars were damaged by the flooding.

The coasts were also affected by the storm

There were also storm surges on other parts of the coast. “Not everywhere a severe storm surge like in Hamburg,” said the BSH spokeswoman. However, the entire German North Sea coast was affected.

In Bremerhaven, for example, the peak value was 2.14 meters above the mean high water level. The BSH still expected storm surges or severe storm surges on the coasts on Sunday.

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.

There were also two incidents involving ships in Hamburg and on the North Sea: a barge got stuck under a bridge in the port of Hamburg. A police spokesman said the ship got stuck when driving through the wheelhouse on the Freihafenelbbrücke and got stuck.

Nobody was hurt on the ships

According to initial reports, there were no injuries. There were two people on board the ship. The cause of the accident was initially unclear. It is possible that the captain misjudged the rising water level of the Elbe.

The second incident occurred 16 nautical miles (approx. 30 kilometers) off the East Frisian coast. There, an unloaded freighter drifted in the sea for several hours.

The 190-meter-long “Vienna” clearly had problems maneuvering because of the storm, as a spokesman for the emergency command in Cuxhaven announced on Sunday morning. The machine was too weak to hold the ship against wind and waves.

Therefore, among other things, emergency tugs were sent to the distressed vessel. The freighter was secured after about six hours.

The railway is struggling with the storm

Rail traffic was also affected on Sunday morning. The problems are expected to last until noon, Deutsche Bahn said.

The ICE and IC trains were canceled on the section between Stralsund and the Baltic Sea resort of Binz. There were delays between Bremen and Hamburg because the section of the route was only single-track.

Between Rostock and Hamburg as well as Berlin, passengers should expect short-term train cancellations and delays. There were also delays and cancellations in regional traffic due to the storm damage. In many places, the railways cited trees that had fallen on the tracks as reasons – or faults in the overhead line.

On Sunday morning, the DWD lifted its severe weather warning. According to the information, gusts of wind are to be expected until late Sunday afternoon.

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