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Berlin firefighters work to tackle flooding after ‘heaviest rain in a century’

Heavy rain has meant that Berlin firefighters battled flooded streets and cellars throughout the night on Thursday and into Friday morning.

Published: 30 June 2017 11:19 CEST
Berlin firefighters work to tackle flooding after 'heaviest rain in a century'
A flooded street in Brandenburg on Thursday. Photo:DPA
Fire services were still in action on Friday morning, working hard to pump water out of cellars and away from streets after hours of uninterrupted rain on Thursday. On Friday morning 600 professional firefighters were still deployed. They had been supported by around 550 volunteers on Thursday evening.
 
The rain started shortly after midday on Thursday and still hadn't stopped by the evening. Much of the inner city had been brought to a standstill late on Thursday, with water levels often reaching up to knee height.
 
Throughout Thursday and Friday people uploaded eye-watering footage of the flooding to social media. On Friday morning one commuter filmed a man swimming along the street in a central neighbourhood of the capital.
 
According to tabloid Bild, the rainfall on Thursday was the heaviest seen in the capital for 110 years.

A spokesperson for the Berlin Water Works told Bild that 150 litres of water fell per square metre in the district of western Spandau.

“On average around 580 litres of rain fall every year in Berlin. That means that a quarter of the normal total for the year fell within an 18 hour period,” the spokesperson said.

The state of Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin, was also hit hard by the severe weather, with up to half a year's rainfall completely swamping some streets.

Firefighters pump water out of a cellar in the Mitte district of Berlin on Friday. Photo: DPA

But the worst of the chaos seemed to be over on Friday morning.

“It is gradually getting calmer”, said a fire services spokesman.

But the German Weather Service (DWD) has predicted more long-lasting rain for Berlin and Brandenburg on Friday and Saturday, and weather warnings are in place for the north and east regions of Germany for Friday. 

The Autobahn was fully open again on Friday after several nightly closures, according to police. The overground metro lines were all also running according to schedule, after a tree had fallen onto the track in the north of the city, blocking to major commuter routes.

Underground U-Bahn services on the U9 were however still facing interruptions due to flooding in some stations. The U3 was running along the entire route again after a suspension of services on Thursday evening.

No further delays are also expected at at Tegel airport on Friday, after flight delays on Thursday.

The capital's transport network took a beating in the storms on Thursday. The Autobahn in the south of the city was blocked off at the Alboinstraße exit in Tempelhof, leading to a huge tailback of traffic. The A100, one of the busiest roads in Germany, was also shut down in the west of the city near the Funkturm.

A house in the Berlin district of Charlottenburg had to be evacuated due to the heavy rainfall, but a structural engineer has since given the all-clear and the 18 evacuees were able to return to the building.

WEATHER

‘Turbo spring’: Germany to see temperatures above 25C

Germany is set for a blast of warm weather in the coming week as the colder spell eases off.

Published: 26 April 2024 16:56 CEST
'Turbo spring': Germany to see temperatures above 25C

“The late winter weather of the past few days with frost and snow is a thing of the past for the time being, and spring will kick into turbo gear over the next few days,” said meteorologist Adrian Leyser from the German Weather Service (DWD) on Friday.

Temperatures are expected to rise sharply over the weekend with plenty of sunshine, forecasters said. In Germany anything above 25C is classed as a summer day. “The summer mark of 25C will be cracked regionally as early as Sunday,” said Leyser.

It comes as snow and hail hit Germany last week, and temperatures fell below freezing in some places.

But showers and thunderstorms are still possible in the west and north of Germany. Maximum temperatures there are expected to reach around 20C. 

According to the DWD, spring will get a little damper on Monday, with a few rain spells.  “However, the next low pressure system over Western Europe is preparing to turn on the warm air jet again from Tuesday,” said the meteorologist.

On Wednesday – which is a public holiday across Germany for International Workers’ Day – temperatures could soar nearer 30C. 

“In the south and east, we are even approaching the 30C mark,” said Leyser. However, the weather will remain “susceptible to disruption”, said Leyser, especially in the west where there is a risk of isolated and sometimes severe thunderstorms.

READ ALSO: What to do on May 1st in Germany

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