Severe thunderstorm, massive flooding hits Germany
Image credit: Aftermath of severe thunderstorms and floods in northern Germany on May 10, 2018.
Severe thunderstorms accompanied by large amounts of hail and heavy rain hit parts of Germany on Thursday, May 10, 2018. Floods damaged homes and roads, leaving parts of the region under 1 m (40 inches) of water. A 'once in a century' hailstorm reportedly hit Ginolfs in the district of Rhön-Graber in Hesse.
Northern Germany was hit particularly hard. Fire brigade services were called 2 000 times in Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg with Oststeinbek in Stormarn County (east of Hamburg) and Lohbrügge in Pinneberg district one of the worst affected areas.
Oststeinbek measured a whopping 100 mm (3.92 inches) of rain within just 20 minutes, authorities said, adding that the historic Ostesteinbeks watermill was washed away. "We evacuated three people by boat and 15 minutes later a side wall of the building collapsed," Oststeinbek fire department spokesman said.
15 people were evacuated from a building in Lohbrügge where a huge sinkhole appeared.
There are no reports of deaths or injuries.
Hamburg wurde von den Unwetter an Christi Himmelfahrt schwer getroffen: Ein Mehrfamilienhaus in Lohbrügge ist einsturzgefährdet, nachdem Starkregen Außenwände unterspült hat!
Auch anderswo gab es #Hagel und #Fluten: https://t.co/L3GwFAf6ji#Wetter #Unwetter #Gewitter #Hamburg pic.twitter.com/CSytnOa6b0— wetteronline.de (@WetterOnline) May 11, 2018
Schwere Hagelunwetter haben an Vatertag von Hamburg über Niedersachsen bis nach Franken gewütet. Besonders heftig war es in der Rhön…
Weitere dramatische Unwetterbilder aus Niedersachsen und Hamburg: https://t.co/L3GwFAf6ji#Wetter #Hagel #Unwetter #Rhön pic.twitter.com/bDFXPxCsw7
— wetteronline.de (@WetterOnline) May 11, 2018
Hamburg und #Oststeinbek wurden von dem #Gewitter besonders getroffen #Unwetter https://t.co/eakEFT59EB pic.twitter.com/yp7nT88dDM
— LN_Online (@LN_Online) May 10, 2018
Gestern Sondershausen Photos by Nicole Heydecke #Hagel pic.twitter.com/F3fs91RKzv
— Unwetteralarm (@unwetteralarm) May 11, 2018
I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
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