Devastating storm over Füssen: "Nobody expected this intensity"
Created: 2022-05-24Updated: 2022-05-24 13:03
By: Matthias Matz
After the storm, Rupprechtstrasse in Füssen is under water.
© Matthias Matz
Füssen - After the violent storm on Monday, the clean-up work began in Füssen.
No one was injured, but the damage is in the millions.
Even in the morning after the big storm on Monday afternoon and evening yesterday, there can be no question of calm for the Füssen fire brigade forces.
"We've had three operations again," reports fire brigade commander Thomas Roth on the phone.
Many Füsseners only realized on Tuesday morning that their basement was also full of water, he explains.
For his troops, this means: move out again, pump empty again.
For minutes, hailstones rained down from the sky over Füssen on Monday afternoon.
© private
The firefighters only returned from their last mission to the base on Kemptener Straße around one o'clock in the night.
They had had to deal with a total of 161 operations since the first alert at 3:30 p.m.
At this point, an exceptionally violent storm began to unload over Füssen and Schwangau.
Heavy rain, hail and violent gusts of wind raged over the Königswinkel for almost three quarters of an hour.
"The epicenter was Füssen and Schwangau," Füssen's police chief Edmund Martin reported to the district messenger on Tuesday morning.
Something is brewing: In the afternoon, dark clouds are moving over the Königswinkel before they erupt with devastating effects.
© private
Within a short time, so many alarms were received via the control center in Kempten that the Ostallgäu district fire inspection set up a so-called section control center in the Füssen fire station in order to be able to better coordinate the incidents.
In the first hour alone, the fire departments of the city center and the districts were called to 80 operations, reports Commander Roth.
Above all, flooded cellars and underground car parks had to be pumped out.
Exactly how many there were has to be evaluated in the coming days, the commander continued.
Police chief Martin has also not been able to give any specific figures.
But he assumes “many, many cellars”.
Even the basement of the police station was not spared.
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In fact, on Monday evening we received countless video and photo recordings from readers showing flooded basements, hallways and underground car parks all over the city.
You can see these and other photos of the storm on our Facebook page.
Damage is in the millions
The amount of the damage incurred is not yet foreseeable in this context.
Both Eichstetter and Martin assume well over one million euros.
Because in addition to the flooded cellars and houses, there are also countless cars with hail damage.
On the other hand, the fire department had to evacuate the Netto market at the Luitpoldkreisel, as this is like a cellar below the surface.
Another operation took place at the federal base on Kemptener Strasse, where the water threatened to seep into the room where the ammonia for ice making is located.
As a precaution, the ice rink was temporarily disconnected from the power grid, as Mayor Maximilian Eichstetter (CSU) announced.
Hailstones of that size fell from the sky for minutes.
© private
The St. Gabriel kindergarten in the west of Füssen was also affected, where the water masses also ran into the basement.
As of today, Tuesday, operations can continue as normal, according to Eichstetter.
Rail traffic is also affected
Rail traffic also had to struggle with the storm.
According to police chief Martin, the signal systems at the level crossings near Füssen, Hopfen and Hopferau failed.
This is where the responsible federal police stepped in.
In addition, a driver left the road near Hopfen because of the weather and drove into an adjacent field.
Although the weather services had warned of severe weather, those involved were surprised by the intensity.
"We knew something was coming, but nobody expected this intensity," says Mayor Eichstetter.
Police chief Martin also admits: He hasn't experienced such a storm in a long time.
"We didn't expect such a concentration." Fire brigade commander Roth also cannot remember any deployment of this magnitude.
Meanwhile, there is a lot of praise for the work of the fire department.
They responded “in a very coordinated and professional manner,” says the mayor happily.
On Monday it paid off that you had trained for such a situation in the past.
"We had already planned and practiced exactly this scenario," he explains.
Police chief Martin also wanted to give the fire brigades and the Ostallgäu district fire councilor Markus Barnsteiner "high praise", as he says.
Mayor Eichstetter is also enthusiastic about the solidarity of the people in Füssen.
In this extraordinary situation, one person helps the other – whether cleaning up the garden or pumping out a flooded basement.
"Neighborly help worked really well everywhere," he emphasizes.