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Germany: Flooding and hail hit parts of Bavaria

Dmytro Hubenko
July 13, 2024

A storm brought wintry conditions to roads in parts of southern Germany. Hail and heavy rain caused hundreds of calls for service in Bavarian cities within hours. The north of Germany was also hit by heavy rains.

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Hail-covered roads in Bavaria, Germany
The one to two centimeter-sized (about .4 to almost .8 of an inch) hail grains covered roads in parts of Bavaria, with the cover sometimes as high as 30 centimetersImage: Vifogra/dpa/picture alliance

A major storm hit Upper Bavaria and Swabia in the southern German state of Bavaria on Friday evening, flooding streets and basements and causing traffic disruptions due to fallen trees.

The roads were suddenly transformed into a winter wonderland in the middle of summer. Even snowplows and shovels had to be brought in due to heavy hail showers. In addition, open-air events in Munich and Regensburg had to be canceled.

Flooded street in Bavaria, Germany
The storm hit parts of Bavaria Friday evening, flooding roadsImage: Alexander Wolf/dpa/onw-images/picture alliance

What areas were affected in Bavaria?

In the town of Kempten, southwest of Munich, local police said roads were turned white by hail and that emergency services received about 700 calls between 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) and Saturday morning.

Hail brought traffic to a standstill on some roads. According to a police spokesperson in Kempten, some of the roads were white with hail. By the morning, however, all of the roads were clear again and the water had drained away.

The hardest hit areas were the Allgäu region and the district of Lindau, near Lake Constance and the Austrian border. Clean-up efforts, including pumping out cellars, continued well into the night.

Police in Rosenheim, further east, reported another 230 calls for service. Crews responded to flooded basements and trees that had fallen onto roads and, in some cases, railroad tracks. No injuries were reported.

Heavy rains hit Lower Saxony

The weather conditions also affected northern Germany. Heavy rains caused flooded basements and streets in parts of Lower Saxony on Friday.

Emergency services were particularly busy in the county of Grafschaft Bentheim, near the Dutch border, where the town of Nordhorn recorded more than 100 incidents.

Flooding forced the temporary closure of a hospital emergency room, while overflowing reservoirs caused further damage in residential areas. Several roads were temporarily closed, and some 200 firefighters were called out to deal with the flooding.

The German Weather Service expects isolated thunderstorms to bring more heavy rain to Lower Saxony on Saturday and Sunday, especially in coastal areas.

Written with material from DPA news agency

Edited by: Wesley Dockery

Dmytro Hubenko Dmytro covers stories in DW's newsroom from around the world with a particular focus on Ukraine.