Heavy rain and hail in Middle Franconia – "From now on everything went black"
Created: 08/26/2022Updated: 08/26/2022, 20:01
On Friday afternoon there was heavy rain, thunderstorms and flooding in Bavaria.
In Nuremberg, some people fled from centimeter-thick hail.
Nuremberg – The German Weather Service (DWD) warned of extreme thunderstorms in Bavaria on Friday.
The DWD announced that there was an official severe weather warning for Lower Franconia, Middle Franconia, Upper Franconia and the Upper Palatinate until 6 p.m.
The weather experts were right, because the thunderstorm hit the region on time on Friday afternoon - and apparently out of nowhere.
Thunderstorm hits Franconia out of nowhere: Centimeter-thick hailstones in Nuremberg Zoo
The DWD warned that trees could be uprooted and roofs damaged on Friday.
Cellars and streets may also be flooded.
The DWD experts recommended staying indoors as much as possible in this weather and keeping windows and doors closed.
Heavy storms hit Middle Franconia on Friday.
There was flooding, heavy rain, hail and thunderstorms.
© NEWS5 / Eyewitness material
The sun was still partially shining in
Nuremberg
, so that numerous people enjoyed the warm rays of sunshine in the Nuremberg Zoo, as the news portal
News5 reported
on Friday evening.
However, around 5 p.m., heavy rain and hailstones a few centimeters thick suddenly hit the visitors, causing people to flee into the animal houses to protect themselves from the rain.
A short time later, however, the water masses penetrated there and soaked the straw, according to the
News5
portal .
According to Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR)
, the enclosures of some animals were
sometimes under water.
Nuremberg-Fürth region particularly affected: "From now on everything went black in the sky"
After the severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall, several streets and hundreds of basements were under water in Middle Franconia and in the Oberfalz.
Streets were also flooded in
Fürth
, the heavy rain pushed the manhole cover up.
“All of a sudden everything went black in the sky.
It started with a bit of rain, ”explained a passer-by to the news portal
News5
.
Looking at his car parked on the side of the road, he added that the water had run into his car.
"I'm curious to see how the damage looks."
On Friday, a heavy thunderstorm passed over Middle Franconia.
© NEWS5 / Osswald
(By the way: Our Nuremberg newsletter regularly informs you about all the important stories from Middle Franconia and the Franconian metropolis. Register here.)
Local forces in Middle Franconia in action: "Extremely tense situation"
The storm and its consequences also kept the local emergency services in suspense.
The police and fire brigade moved out.
When asked by the
BR
, the police spokesman for the
Nuremberg-Fürth
region stated that the situation was currently extremely tense.
Numerous cellars were full, and some underpasses were also affected.
In
Zirndorf
in the Fürth district, the water masses surprised several vehicles, which then got stuck in underpasses.
The water was waist-high in the underpass, the spokesman described the situation on site.
Some of the occupants of the affected cars had to be freed by the fire department.
The integrated control center in Nuremberg reported around 470 operations by fire brigades and technical relief organizations in
Nuremberg, Fürth
and the districts of
Fürth and Erlangen-Höchstadt
on Friday evening .
The Schwabach
integrated control center also
announced on Friday evening that there had been 65 operations in
Eckermühlen and Hilpoltstein
in the Roth district because of overflowing retention basins, full basements and flooded streets.
Fire brigades and technical relief organizations are in action with sandbags.
Despite DWD warning: Lower Franconia and Upper Franconia less affected
Some trees also snapped during the storm on Friday, some of which damaged telephone lines.
The VAG (Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft Nürnberg) also reported impairments in local public transport.
At times there were restrictions on bus routes in the Nuremberg city area.
For the districts of
Schwandorf, Amberg-Sulzbach
and the city of
Amberg
in the Upper Palatinate, the responsible control center reported on Friday afternoon 60 to 80 smaller operations, mostly full basements.
Meanwhile, things remained comparatively quiet in Lower Franconia and Upper Franconia.
The integrated control center
Bamberg-Forchheim
in Upper Franconia only reported three to four operations due to flooded basements.
"It was completely unspectacular for us," said one employee.
Despite the warning,
Lower Franconia
seemed to have been spared: the police headquarters in Lower Franconia did not report any special incidents.
(dpa/bme)