ICE is fighting its way through floods – Deutsche Bahn: “Customers can paddle”

Flooded streets, full cellars, fallen trees and hailstones as big as fists – several hours are a long time storm pulled over large parts of Baden-Württemberg with tremendous force on Wednesday evening. Several people were injured, and hundreds of police officers and firefighters had to do heavy labor. The clean-up work continued on Thursday morning in some regions, and several roads were still closed.

Deutsche Bahn jokes about the ICE scene: “Customers can paddle from a water depth of 1.20 meters”

She was hit hard too Deutsche Bahn in southern Baden: Parts of the route from Freiburg to Basel were under water for several hours near Bad Krozingen. The route was closed in both directions. But the water ran out again quickly, said the railway.

She carried it with composure – and with humor. “From a water depth of 1.20 meters, customers can take their paddles out from under their seats and paddle independently,” said the company, amused on twitter. On a video you can see how the lane swims through the masses of water. They also posted a suitable picture with the inscription: “25 m breaststroke. We saved ourselves the jump from the edge of the pool.” In addition, the seahorse badge has been edited into the picture.

Further damage also in the vaccination center

The districts of Reutlingen, Biberach and Tübingen as well as Esslingen and the Zollernalb district were particularly hit on Wednesday evening. According to the police, five people were injured in two accidents, some of them seriously. In Kusterdingen (Tübingen district), a man fell from the roof of a house that he had wanted to clear from the hail.

“Countless houses and vehicles in all four counties were damaged by the precipitation with hailstones the size of tennis balls,” said a police spokesman on Thursday morning. In Tübingen, among other places, the water shot through the city “in torrents,” as it was called. In the worst phase of the storm earlier in the evening, the emergency call center of the Reutlingen police headquarters alone received around 400 calls, the police said.

The consequences of the storm for the flooded Tübingen district vaccination center are serious. “According to an initial assessment, the hall cannot be used for at least two weeks,” said the district office. A possibility is being sought how the booked appointments could be made up as soon as possible.