Thunderstorms and heavy rain: Injured in severe weather in several federal states

Thunderstorms, heavy rain, and gusts of wind: Several people were injured in severe weather in several German states. On a four-lane road in Trier, for example, a brief storm caused a treetop to fall onto two moving cars, according to police. One driver was trapped in his car and had to be extricated by emergency personnel and taken to a hospital, according to reports. The three occupants of the other car were uninjured.

In central Hesse, two young men in a car were injured when a tree crashed into the vehicle. The 18-year-old driver and his 17-year-old passenger escaped with minor injuries, according to police. In northern Hesse, a spokesperson for the Kassel police headquarters reported numerous accidents with property damage and minor injuries. Trees had fallen onto some side streets.

The German Weather Service (DWD) in Offenbach had announced strong thunderstorms and heavy rainfall for the course of Saturday – roughly in a strip from southern North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland in the west to southern Brandenburg and Saxony in the east.

Deutsche Bahn reported on X that line closures were occurring due to trees on the tracks. Several regional trains were affected in Rhineland-Palatinate.

In Fulda, a fallen tree blocked the entrance to a hotel. Around 60 guests were initially unable to leave the building until the fire department had cleared the tree, according to police. In eastern Hesse, fallen trees and branches littered the roadway. One tree fell in front of a moving car; the driver was uninjured.

According to police, the federal highway between Philippsthal and the state border with Thuringia in the Hessian district of Hersfeld-Rotenburg had to be completely closed due to dirt on the roadway. Some road users attacked firefighters, some verbally aggressively, because of the closure, but police then calmed the situation.

Incidents were also reported in the Vogelsberg district – also in Hesse. Trees were lying across the roadways of several federal and rural roads. In Lauterbach, blown-off roof tiles crashed onto a parked car. A metal garden fence was pushed against six parked cars in the village, and the roof of a former sawmill was blown off. A lightning strike triggered an alarm at an elementary school in Alsfeld.

In the Mainz area, a severe thunderstorm prompted more than 20 fire department calls this evening. In Schwabenheim, emergency personnel secured ceiling sections that had come loose due to water ingress, according to the fire department. In Gau-Algesheim, a shed burned after a lightning strike, and in Alzey, a garden shed was ablaze. Fire departments were also alerted to fallen branches, fallen trees, water ingress into buildings, and water accumulation in roadside depressions.

The "Rhine in Flames" festival in Bonn's Rheinaue park had to be interrupted due to a thunderstorm . "Based on the weather forecast, we expected this. However, we regret that it actually happened," a spokesperson for the city of Bonn said in response to a dpa inquiry. After 3:00 p.m. that afternoon, it began to rain and flash lightning over the Rheinaue park.

A storm sweeping across Thuringia caused a brief interruption to the Thuringia Day festival program in Gotha this evening. Due to the rain, the stage program was interrupted for about a quarter of an hour, said Mandy Wettstein of KulTourStadt Gotha GmbH. The Ferris wheel and the rides were also temporarily closed for safety reasons. No damage was reported.