Heavy rains in the North Rhine-Westphalian town of Hagen have led to flooded streets and full cellars.
As a spokesman for the police headquarters announced early Wednesday morning, hundreds of emergency calls were made to the fire department overnight.
"People are desperate," said the spokesman, referring to the multitude of full cellars in the city.
In addition, due to the flooded streets, vehicles began to slide in places.
No injured persons were known.
Mud masses were also washed onto roads from slopes, so many districts were not passable. Due to debris on the streets, some districts can not even be accessed by police and fire service vehicles, as the spokesman said.
Severe storms hit parts of Saxony and Bavaria in the evening and at night. A flash flood tore a person with it in the Saxon town of Jöhstadt (Erzgebirgskreis). The fire brigade, which was still in action in the late evening in the Steinbach district, initially searched unsuccessfully and initially canceled the search on Wednesday night, the police said. According to the information from Wednesday morning, residents in the Steinbach district tried on Tuesday evening to secure their properties against a river that overflowed its banks. One of the residents was swept away by a flash flood. All rescue attempts by the neighbors failed. More detailed information was not initially available. The police have not yet been able to provide further details about the accident.
After the violent storm on Wednesday night with heavy flooding, the situation in Upper Franconia in Bavaria has eased somewhat.
The helpers worked all night, said a spokesman for the Hof fire department in the morning.
Even now, the rescue workers in the entire region still have a lot to do.
They have to pump out basements that were flooded with water after the extremely heavy rains.
Some streets are still closed, said a spokeswoman for the Hof district office.
The primary school in Selbitz and some daycare centers in Selbitz, Köditz and Naila will be closed on Wednesday.
Disaster alert in courtyard
The fire department spokesman was surprised by the severity of the storm. He hadn't seen it so extreme in years. The district of Hof had issued the disaster alarm on Tuesday evening. According to the German Weather Service, up to 80 liters of rain per square meter had fallen from the sky within twelve hours, and there were also thunderstorms. Initially, however, nothing was known of the injured. Streets and cellars were flooded, trees fell, and in some cases the power went out. Fire detectors also sounded the alarm.
With the relocation of low "Bernd", more heavy rain areas would move, especially in the direction of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, and ensured sustained high levels of precipitation there until Thursday, the German Meteorological Service had announced the day before. The weather experts expected heavy rain and thunderstorms until at least Friday. Until Thursday morning, further rainfall of 70 to 120 liters per square meter can be expected, it said on Wednesday morning.