Severe weather incident results in property damage and perilous harm to an individual
Wild Weather Wreaks Havoc: Weeks of Cleanup Ahead After Berlin's Stormy Night
A torrential storm swept through eastern Germany, causing widespread damage in Berlin and Brandenburg on Thursday evening. The tempest resulted in four severe injuries, many wrecked vehicles, and a halt in public transportation that continues into Fridays.
Stormy Spectacle Turns Dark in the Capital
Berlin bore the brunt of the storm, with thousands of trees toppled and fire departments responding to over 760 calls. Two individuals sustained critical injuries as a result of falling trees, both in the Reinickendorf district. The fire department admits to laboriously clearing paths in some areas and reporting roofs blown off in certain locations.
Authorities state that the city’s western forested areas, especially Tegel Forest, have sustained extensive damage and remain closed, jeopardizing public safety as stray branches and unstable trees continue to pose threats. The clean-up is predicted to take multiple weeks due to the sheer scale of the devastation and ongoing risks.
No Respite in Potsdam: A Bittersweet Day
A tree branch fell on a cyclist and his companion in Potsdam's New Garden, critically injuring the 57-year-old woman and leaving the man with severe injuries. Regrettably, the city administration had initially reported the woman's demise due to a transmission error.
Stormy Mayhem Continues South and West
The storm also affected neighboring regions, with Brandenburg’s Falkensee City Council describing the situation as meteorological mayhem causing numerous storm damages. The Technical Relief Agency (THW) dispatched approximately 360 personnel to help in deployments across Berlin, Brandenburg, and sporadic areas in Saxony-Anhalt.
Elsewhere, the storms reached destinations such as Saxony-Anhalt and Kitzbühel in Austria, where motorists faced rain and hailstorms studded with lightning. The aftermath of the weekend's storm in Berlin has left many questioning the resilience of the region's trees, given their full summer foliage, and concerns regarding vitality losses due to several years of drought.
- Storm
- Berlin
- Brandenburg
- Potsdam
- Fire Department
- Police
- Cleanup
- Trees
(Additional Insights:The Tegel Forest remains closed until further notice due to extensive storm damage and the risk to public safety continuing to persist. The Senate Department for the Environment has stated that safety work has commenced but the full cleanup is predicted to take multiple weeks. The storm caused widespread tree damage across Berlin and Brandenburg, with many forested areas severely affected, particularly Tegel Forest.)
In light of the extensive tree damage and ongoing risks, the Tegel Forest in Berlin remains closed, and the Senate Department for the Environment has begun the necessary safety work, predicting a multiple-week cleanup period.
The storm-damaged trees in Berlin's Tegel Forest, along with the fallen trees in Potsdam's New Garden, have resulted in critical injuries and have raised concerns about the resilience of trees in the region, given their full summer foliage and several years of drought.
