Violent gusts of wind caused devastation in the Aurich district in East Friesland on Monday evening.
"It's chaos," said a fire department spokesman for the German Press Agency.
Countless trees have overturned, roofs covered and roof ridges torn away.
But so far there have been no reports of injuries, said the spokesman.
The rescue workers are still in the process of getting an overview of the damage.
Around 100 emergency services from the entire district are on the way to check the affected houses for the residents and to clear the streets again.
The places Großheide, Ostermoordorf, Westermoordorf and Berumerfehn are particularly affected.
Another fire brigade spokesman in the control center in Wittmund spoke of storm damage to a "not insignificant extent".
At first it was not clear whether it was a tornado.
A spokesman for the German Weather Service (DWD) said on request: "" It would be plausible.
But we have to check it out. «The weather website Tornadoliste.de has already classified the storm as a tornado.
nek / dpa