Tornado destruction in NRW: weather expert warns – "Germany is not prepared"
Created: 05/23/2022, 05:07
By: Patrick Huljina
An increase in extreme weather events is also expected in Germany in the coming years.
According to experts, the preparation can be expanded.
Paderborn – The weather can cause major damage.
Storm "Emmelinde" left a trail of devastation in several cities in North Rhine-Westphalia last Friday (May 20).
According to the German Weather Service (DWD), there were several tornadoes.
In Paderborn alone, 43 people were injured, 13 of them seriously.
According to an initial assessment by the city, far more than 100 buildings have suffered storm damage.
Tornado destruction in NRW: "path of devastation" in Paderborn
In Paderborn, the tornado had caused a swathe of destruction about 300 meters wide and five kilometers long across the city.
That's what the local authorities said.
Mayor Michael Dreier (CDU) reported on Saturday (May 21) that trees and traffic lights had been snapped over like matches.
Flying roof tiles would have "eaten" the facades of neighboring houses.
The DWD confirmed a total of three suspected tornado cases in NRW: in Paderborn, Lippstadt and Höxter.
The tornadoes formed in connection with strong thunderstorms and occurred in small areas.
Several tornadoes caused massive damage in NRW on Friday afternoon.
© David Indian song / dpa
According to NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU), the damage caused by the tornadoes shows that extreme weather events are also to be expected more frequently in Germany.
"When you see this path of devastation here today, it really touches you.
Then you can see that unfortunately that's also possible with us, and we have to be prepared for something like this to happen more often here," he said in Paderborn.
One must be prepared for such events.
Tornado destruction: weather expert warns – "Germany is not prepared"
According to weather expert Jörg Kachelmann, Germany is not.
"The Paderborn tornado wasn't even particularly strong, but the number of victims is incredibly high," he told
Der Spiegel
, according to a report on Sunday (May 22).
"This shows that Germany is not prepared," says Kachelmann.
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By Friday afternoon at the latest, it was clear which places could be affected.
"Just under half an hour before the tornado passed through Paderborn, a strongly rotating thundercloud was seen in the region, moving in the direction of Paderborn," said the weather expert.
“From then on, the clock will start ticking.” In the USA, sirens would wail and live streams would run from such a point in time.
That must also be established in Germany, "otherwise it will be very dangerous," warned Kachelmann.
Storms are threatening again on Monday (May 23) – especially in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
(ph/dpa/afp)
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