“Nadia” causes a storm surge and hundreds of operations

VDelayed trains, fallen trees, objects flying around and canceled ferry connections: The storm “Nadia” brought hurricane-like gusts and a storm surge to northern Germany on Saturday and Sunday night. Fire brigades and the police had to turn out hundreds of times. The German Weather Service (DWD) lifted its severe weather warning for northern Germany on Sunday morning. The severe weather warning has been in effect since Saturday afternoon. According to the information, gusts of wind are to be expected until late Sunday afternoon.

During the night, storm “Nadia” swept across the north German coast at top speeds of up to almost 130 kilometers per hour. The highest wind speed on the coast was measured on Hallig Hooge (Nordfriesland district) at 127 km/h, said a meteorologist from the German Weather Service (DWD) on Sunday morning. Peak speeds of 119 km/h were measured in List on Sylt, Kap Arkona on Rügen and Glücksburg near Flensburg. The islands of Spiekeroog and Norderney were the front runners in East Friesland at 112 km/h. The peak of the storm was between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. early Sunday morning, the meteorologist said.

In Bremen, a pedestrian in the Bürgerpark was hit by a falling tree and seriously injured. After being treated by an ambulance, he was taken to a hospital, the fire department said on Sunday. Storm “Nadia” had triggered dozens of operations throughout Bremen. The control centers of the fire brigades in Brandenburg also reported hundreds of operations, mainly because of fallen trees or covered house roofs. In Beelitz (Potsdam-Mittelmark), a pedestrian was fatally injured by a falling election poster.

“Severe storm surge” in Hamburg

So far there have been around 300 storm operations in Hamburg, said a police spokesman early on Sunday morning. A severe storm surge had previously flooded the fish market in the St. Pauli district. According to the BSH, the apex was reached at around 12:17 a.m. The water level was 2.84 meters above the mean high tide, as a spokeswoman said. The BSH had expected water levels of up to three meters above the mean high water level in Hamburg. As a dpa photographer reported, hundreds of onlookers were drawn to the fish market. Several cars were damaged by the flooding.

According to the BSH, there was also a storm surge on other sections of the coast on Sunday night. “Not everywhere a severe storm surge like in Hamburg,” said the spokeswoman. However, the entire German North Sea coast was affected. In Bremerhaven, for example, the peak value was 2.14 meters above the mean high water level.

On the North Sea coast, one speaks of a storm surge when the flood water is at least 1.5 meters higher than normal. A severe or very severe storm surge is only spoken of from values ​​of 2.5 or 3.5 meters.

Two ships temporarily in distress

There were also two incidents involving ships in Hamburg and on the North Sea: a barge got stuck under a bridge in the port of Hamburg. A police spokesman said the ship got stuck when driving through the wheelhouse on the Freihafenelbbrücke and got stuck. According to initial reports, there were no injuries. There were two people on board the ship. The cause of the accident was initially unclear. It is possible that the captain misjudged the rising water level of the Elbe.