Streets flooded, trees toppled over Heavy thunderstorms in Bonn and the region leave traces

Bonn and the region · On Wednesday evening, thunderstorms and heavy rain left their mark on Bonn and the region: Trees toppled over, streets flooded. Emergency forces were deployed in hundreds of operations throughout the region.

Emergency forces were deployed in hundreds of operations.

Emergency forces were deployed in hundreds of operations.

Foto: Ulrich Felsmann

A severe storm hit Bonn and the region on Wednesday evening. The German Weather Service had been warning of possible storms in the city since late afternoon. Until late in the evening, the DWD warned of heavy thunderstorms. From about 6:30 p.m., the Bonn Fire Department had been on a large-scale deployment to deal with a large number of operations throughout the city. The focus was on the left bank of the Rhine in the districts of Ippendorf, Dottendorf and Kessenich.

All units of the volunteer fire brigade and the two local branches of the Bonn and Beuel technical relief organization were on duty. About 300 additional full-time and volunteer men and women were also on duty. By 8.45 pm, there had been 283 fire stations involved.

Meanwhile, public transportation came to a standstill. Trees fell on railway tracks as well as on roads. Even in the late evening, many regional trains were still not running - or only to a limited extent. "The clean-up work will probably take all night", said a spokesperson for the German Railway. A fallen tree blocked the tracks between Bonn Central Station and Endenich Nord, so that the S23 was unable to run.

Strongly restricted rail traffic

A tree on the tracks ensured that the RB30 could not travel between the main station and Bad Godesberg. A fallen tree also hindered the train service between Bonn-Beuel and Niederdollendorf. The line was closed for the RE 8 and the RB 27. After a lightning strike in Beuel, there was also a fault at the signal box. The trains no longer stopped at Beuel station.

The tram lines 16 and 18 in the direction of Cologne resumed service during the evening. According to Michael Henseler of the municipal utilities, the problem was the many trees blown over and branches torn down. It will take a long time for everything to settle in.

On the Wittelsbacher Ring within sight of the Viktoriabrücke bridge, a fallen tree blocked the roadway. The traffic jammed, even public buses could not get any further. A total of 17 roads were closed.

Melbbad remains closed on Thursday

The city of Bonn had to close the road tunnel to the south after the heavy thunderstorm, as reported by the press office. During the rainfall, water had penetrated the tunnel tube in the direction of Mehlem. According to fire department press spokesman Frank Frenser, the fire department also extinguished a fire in Bad Godesberg in the late evening hours. Near the train station in Gerhard-Rohlfs-Straße a building fire had broken out.

The Melbbad in Poppelsdorf will remain closed on Thursday due to storm damage. The city wants to provide more detailed information about the damage in the course of the day.

Firefighters in Königswinter were mainly occupied by cellars that were filled to overflowing. According to spokesperson Lutz Schumacher, 15 operations were reported this evening. In addition to flooded basements, a fallen tree in Oberpleis kept the firefighters busy. In addition, the thundershower had flooded a production hall of the Maxion Wheels company in the old town of Königswinter. The climate dialogue organised by Parents for Future with the candidates for mayor of Swisttal in the courtyard of the Georg-von-Boeselager Secondary School, of all places, literally fell into the water because of the storm. Because the 30 or so participants in the event had sought shelter in the auditorium in the meantime, it had to be disinfected in the evening. The reason: Thursday is the first day of school there.

Hardly any damage in Bornheim

In addition, the fire brigade in Swisttal had to pump out ten cellars that were filled to overflowing. The Rheinbach fire brigade had to be called out on 16 missions. In Hilberath, Neukirchen, Flerzheim and in the town centre, it pumped out cellars. In Alfter there were 13 fire brigade operations. About half of them involved full cellars and half involved fallen trees.

Trees toppled over on Alfterer Bahnhofsstraße and Schlossweg. Another main focus of the fire brigade's work in the community was the district of Witterschlick. The thunderstorm has largely passed Bornheim by. In the evening, the fire brigade had only one assignment: In Roisdorf, it had to be called out due to water damage. Because of the heavy rainfall, the pressure in the sewerage system was so high that a toilet was overflowing.

(Original text: Sven Westbrock, Leandra Kubiak, Andreas Dyck and Britta Röös / Translation: Mareike Graepel)

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