Hurricane “Zeynep” has raged over Germany and caused a severe storm surge on the North Sea coast. According to the police, one person each died in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony because of the storm, and the cause of another accident was unclear. The hurricane should now move on to Russia via the Baltic States on Saturday, according to the German Weather Service (DWD).
It should be temporarily calmer until Sunday, especially in the south and in the middle, again stronger gusts are expected – widespread with up to 60 kilometers per hour, on higher mountains also sometimes heavy gusts of wind up to 100 kilometers per hour. A hurricane gust of 143.3 kilometers per hour was measured in Büsum on Friday evening.
In the morning, the DWD lifted its warning of extreme gusts of wind on the North Sea. In Hamburg, the Elbe reached the St. Pauli level at around 5.30 a.m. on Saturday morning, 3.75 meters above the mean high water level, as reported by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency. For the first time since 2013, the Hanseatic city was hit by a very severe storm surge with more than 3.5 meters above the mean high water level.
In the flooded warehouse district, the fire brigade rescued two men who were locked in their car early on Saturday morning. According to the police, the men were severely hypothermic and were taken to a hospital as a precaution.