Dhe people in northern Germany are facing a stormy night. The German Weather Service (DWD) warned of storms up to hurricane gusts on the coast and in the north-eastern half of the country on Saturday. “The peak of the storm is expected on Sunday night,” said a DWD meteorologist in Offenbach.
As the DWD announced, the winds in many places in Lower Saxony intensify during the evening and can reach speeds of up to 110 kilometers per hour on the coasts. Occasionally in Schleswig-Holstein and on exposed sections of the Baltic Sea coast in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, hurricane gusts of wind force twelve with speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour cannot be ruled out.
Because of the storm low over the North Sea, there are massive problems in rail traffic in northern Germany. Long-distance traffic in Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Bremen was stopped for about 50 minutes, but has now started again, said a railway spokesman on Saturday evening in Berlin. He cited storm damage as the reason. According to the information, the ICE routes between Hamburg and Bremen and between Hamburg and Berlin are particularly affected. There are still major impairments there, the spokesman said.
According to the railways, there are also cancellations and delays in regional traffic. Travelers and commuters should find out whether their train is running as planned via the website, the app or by telephone before starting their journey. It was therefore initially unclear when the trains would run again as planned. You have to wait for the night first, said the railway spokesman.
The police and fire brigade in Schleswig-Holstein were called to numerous storm-related operations on Saturday afternoon. Since midday, there had been around 200 operations within four hours in the area of the regional control center responsible for Kiel, Neumünster and Rendsburg, among other things, as a spokesman said. “We are totally under land because of the storm.” The emergency services were called, for example, because of falling roof tiles, fallen trees or blown tarpaulins. The west control center in Elmshorn also reported on various operations. “Everything I see on my screen has to do with the storm,” a spokesman said.
The number of operations during the afternoon also increased in the area of the southern regional control center in Lübeck. “We’ve been warming up since 2 p.m.,” said a spokeswoman. Since 12.00 noon there have been 46 operations in the area of the control center. Here, too, it was mainly fallen trees, blown construction site barriers and the like. The regional control center responsible for North Friesland, Flensburg and the district of Schleswig-Flensburg also reported numerous operations, but “nothing worth mentioning”.
Peak on Sunday night
The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) has tightened its storm surge warning. The BSH announced on Saturday evening that there was now a risk of a severe storm surge for the German North Sea coast. The water levels in Hamburg’s Elbe area could be 2.5 to 3 meters higher than the average high water level. The apex is expected to be reached around 1:50 a.m. on Sunday morning. According to the information, there is also a warning of a severe storm surge for East and North Friesland.
The BSH experts had previously expected water levels on the Elbe in Hamburg to be 2 to 2.5 meters above mean high water. 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.