Storm Luise injures several in Germany as storm Manja follows

Storm Luise, the first strong autumn storm of the year, swept across parts of Germany on Friday, injuring several people and causing damage mainly in the west and south-west. According to tagesschau, the next storm system, “Manja”, was already approaching, with stronger gusts, heavy rain and higher water levels forecast for the north.

What happened

Tagesschau, the news service of the public broadcaster ARD, reports that fire brigades and police were called out in several Bundesländer (federal states). Most callouts were for fallen trees and snapped branches. Most of the damage was to vehicles and buildings.

The most serious incident was in Nastätten, in the north of Rhineland-Palatinate. On Friday afternoon a gust blew over a metal frame while an October market was taking place nearby. Police said two people were seriously injured. One of them is in a life-threatening condition and was flown to hospital by helicopter.

Rail services were also disrupted:

• At Karlsruhe Hauptbahnhof (main station), an object was blown into the overhead power line. Travellers reported “massive sparking”.
• Near Pforzheim, on the northern edge of the Black Forest, a regional train carrying hundreds of passengers hit a branch and had to stop on the open line.
• Near Aachen in North Rhine-Westphalia, an ICE with 280 passengers broke down after damage to the overhead line. A diesel locomotive towed it to Stolberg station.
• Fallen trees also blocked tracks near Neuss and in Stuttgart.

In Duisburg, uprooted trees fell onto roads and power lines. The fire brigade said a driver crashed into a fallen tree but was not hurt, and it counted around 40 storm-related callouts. On the A1 motorway, a large tree fell against a noise barrier and the carriageway towards Cologne was temporarily closed. In Lower Saxony, the Leitstellen (emergency control centres) in Oldenburg and Osnabrück reported dozens of callouts. In several cases cars hit trees lying on the road, but no one was injured.

What it means for you

The danger has not yet passed. The Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD, Germany’s national weather service) expected another stormy day on Saturday. It forecast gusts of up to 85 kilometres per hour on high ground and on the North Sea coast, and stronger gusts on the Brocken in the Harz mountains. Luise was expected to move towards the Baltic Sea and Denmark during Saturday. The wind would ease for a while during the day, but storm-force gusts were still possible on the coast.

Storm “Manja” was due to arrive from the west from Saturday evening. The DWD warned of heavy rain and a strong, rising south-westerly wind overnight into Sunday. Some regions could see rain in “severe-weather quantities” until Sunday morning. Apart from the south-east, Sunday was forecast to be windy to stormy across the country. Gusts of up to 100 kilometres per hour and isolated Orkanböen (hurricane-force gusts) were possible on the North Sea coast and on the Feldberg in the Black Forest.

If you live in the north or plan to travel there, note the following points from the report:

• The Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency) expected much higher water levels from Sunday to Monday.
• Hamburg could see a Sturmflut (storm surge). In that case the lower part of the Fischmarkt, the city’s waterfront fish market area, would flood.
• The fast ferries to Helgoland were not running this weekend.
• Boats will not call at the Halligen, the small unprotected islands off the North Frisian coast, on Sunday or Monday.
• Ferry services to some of the East Frisian Islands were restricted.

Rail passengers, especially in Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia, should allow for disruption caused by fallen trees and damaged overhead lines. Drivers should watch for trees and branches on the road. It is sensible to check the DWD’s current warnings for your area before setting off.

What to watch next

Tagesschau’s weather outlook says the rain would move south-east during Sunday, followed by showers with sunny spells, cloud and brief thunderstorms. A later tagesschau report from North Rhine-Westphalia, dated 25 October, said Manja brought wind and rain to the state overnight but caused no major damage. A linked report from the northern broadcaster NDR said Manja could again bring hurricane-force gusts to the north and that a severe weather warning was in place for the Brocken. Keep an eye on water levels on the North Sea coast and in Hamburg until Monday, and on ferry timetables to the islands.

Source: tagesschau