Hurricane-Force Winds and Snow Disrupt Germany as Storm “Detlef” Moves east
germany is battling strong winds, heavy rain, and even the first snowfall of the season as hurricane-force storm “Detlef” sweeps across the country. The storm brought down trees, disrupted transportation, and prompted warnings from authorities throughout Saturday and sunday.
The German Weather Service (DWD) reported sustained winds reaching up to 70 km/h in the Berlin and Brandenburg region, wiht gusts possibly higher. While coastal areas experienced the brunt of the storm surge, inland regions faced hazardous conditions due to falling trees and reduced visibility from dense fog and rain. The storm’s impact extends from the mountains of Saxony, where snowflakes were reported, to major cities like Leipzig, where a fallen tree blocked a major roadway.The unsettled weather is expected to continue into Monday, with lingering winds and rainfall.
On the Fichtelberg, Saxony’s highest peak, fierce winds and thick fog created treacherous conditions. In Leipzig, a tree fell across Gustav-Esche-Straße late Saturday evening, halting traffic for both cars and buses. The DWD forecasts continued rain and cloud cover for the capital region, with temperatures ranging from 14 to 16 degrees Celsius.
Berlin – Benjamin F. (43) narrowly escaped death in June. An eight-meter branch crashed onto his car in his residential area. The property owner, Deutsche Wohnen, refuses to pay for the damage caused to the vehicle.
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This is what happened: As he was unloading his groceries from his car, a large black poplar branch slammed into the open passenger door. It was completely destroyed. Benjamin F. was trapped in his Opel Astra Caravan. Only the fire department was able to free him. What was particularly bad was that his two little sons (5 and 10) had to witness the accident.
“One turn and I would have been mud,” the craftsman looks back in shock. He suffered a severe bruise. The door, body, fenders and paintwork on the Opel had to be renewed. Costs according to F.: 8000 euros! Now the next shock for the family. The housing association’s insurance doesn’t want to pay.
The passenger door of the Opel Astra Caravan was crushed by the branch
Photo: Simon Schulz
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Background: The tree stands on the site of a Deutsche Wohnen development in Berlin-Neukölln. F. received news from the insurance company in August. “Deutsche Wohnen has written to us saying that it is not paying. According to the motto: bad luck. I was speechless,” says the Berliner.
Reason: According to Deutsche Wohnen, the tree was checked according to regulations.
BILD asked Deutsche Wohnen. Their spokesman Christoph Metzner explains: “The insurance company has confirmed that our tree inspections on site were carried out correctly. The branch break was not predictable or avoidable. That’s why the insurance doesn’t pay.”
The tree should have been checked correctly
Foto: spreepicture
The case law of past court rulings states that a natural branch break, for which there were no previous special signs, is fundamentally one of the natural risks to life. F. to BILD: “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
His fully comprehensive vehicle insuranceInsurance F. does not want to claim because otherwise he would be upgraded from 30 to 70 percent of the contributions. “It costs more than repairs,” he says.
Target Round of 16
Last weekend, the SK Sturm Graz women moved into the second round of the SPORTLAND NÖ women’s cup with a clear 4:0 win in Klagenfurt. A Uka hat trick sealed promotion in the first half. Now the leaders of the second league – SPG Südburgenland/TSV Hartberg – are waiting in the second round. The Graz women are traveling to Burgenland with the premise of moving into the round of 16. However, the black and white girls around their coach Sargon Duran are aware that this will not be an easy undertaking. “We mastered the first round of the cup in our last game and are now facing the leaders of the second league. We know what to expect. They are a very difficult team to play against and have a lot of individual quality, especially in the offensive area. We will do everything we can to overcome this hurdle in order to advance to the next round.” In terms of personnel, the Graz team will – like a week ago – be without the two convalescents Laura Krumböck and Stefanie Großgasteiger as well as Julia Keutz and Anna Wirnsberger, who are at the U20 World Championship. The match will kick off at 2 p.m., weather permitting.
Storm legend Säumel is 40
Born in 1984 in Friesach, Jürgen started at his hometown club TSV Neumarkt, but because of his talent he ended up at Sturm Graz in 1999 at the age of 15 in the then national youth center, where Alois Jarc, Hans Lang and Helmut Werner took him under their wing.
At just 18, in 2002, he joined the squad in the final phase of the Osim era and quickly became a regular under Osim’s successor Franco Foda. A highlight was his appearance in the 1-0 victory over Lazio in Rome in the UEFA Cup in December 2002.
Youngest Storm Captain
In 2004, at 20, he was the youngest Sturm captain under coach Mischa Petrovic and on August 17, 2005, he was called up by team manager Hans Krankl for the international match in Graz (!) against Scotland, which ended 2:2. Under Pepi Hickersberger, he was in the squad at Euro 2008 and was called up to the team 20 times. He had already been a regular player for Austria U17, U19 and U21. With the U19, Jürgen won the bronze medal at the U-19 European Championship in Liechtenstein.
After Euro 2008, Säumel moved to AC Torino, where he stayed for three years. Other foreign stints included Brescia Calcio and MSV Duisburg. In the summer of 2011, when Sturm had just won the championship, he returned home to Sturm for two years. Unfortunately, it was not the best time for Schwarzweiß in sporting terms. After stints at Wiener Neustadt and Wacker Innsbruck, his career ended in May 2018.
“Co” with team boss Foda
As a coach, Jürgen Säumel worked at TSV Neumarkt in the youth team, then was assistant coach to Markus Schopp at TSV Hartberg, and then, from May 2021 to March 2022, assistant to team manager Franco Foda. Before Jürgen became coach of Sturm II in December 2023, he managed the regional league team of Wolfsberger AC for a year.
The Sturm family wishes Jürgen Säumel, who was inducted into the Sportklub Sturm legends club in 2018, all the best for his 40th birthday and four successes with Sturm II.
Hamburg – Severe storm in the evening! On Wednesday, a heavy thunderstorm in the greater Hamburg area hit the Moorfleet timber port with full force.
There, the storm with gusts of wind between 75 and 90 km/h and heavy rain blew a three by five meter wooden structure from a barge into the water. The worst thing: There were several people in the hut, according to a fire department spokesman.
The fire brigade had to cut a man out of the overturned wooden house
Six people injured
The fire brigade was on site with a large contingent and rescued several people from the water.
One man was unable to free himself in time – dramatic minutes followed! “We had to cut open the structure to rescue a trapped man,” said a spokesman. A total of six people were injured.
The storm left a trail of devastation
The storm brought heavy rain with precipitation amounts of 30 liters per square meter and hailstones up to two centimeters in size. The storm passed around 10 p.m. and did not leave any further major damage. The Hamburg fire brigade was called out to ten water operations by Thursday morning.
Storm over Schleswig-Holstein
A violent storm also swept across the west coast Schleswig-Holstein! Itzehoe and Kellinghusen were particularly affected.
In Kellinghusen, Lehmbergstrasse was under water
At around 7:30 p.m., the weather front reached the districts of Pinneberg and Steinburg with lightning every second. An hour later, the storm hit Itzehoe in the Steinburg district, where cellars flooded and streets were under water.
A lightning strike in a building in Itzehoe was monitored, but no fire broke out. In Kellinghusen, the volunteer fire department emptied blocked drains so that the water could flow away again.
Aquaplaning on A1
One driver was slightly injured in the four accidents on the A1. His sports car skidded on the wet road and collided with a concrete wall and a crash barrier before finally coming to a stop on the hard shoulder. The other three vehicles also crashed into crash barriers, the police reported. The accidents caused an estimated 50,000 euros in damage.
Lightning and heavy rain bring traffic on the motorway to a standstill
In Oelixdorf near Itzehoe, it hailed heavily until late in the evening. The situation calmed down again around 10.30 p.m.
Big, thick hailstones fell from the sky
In Tornesch near Hamburg, streets were under water
Lower Saxony and Bremen also affected
Heavy rain, storms and thunderstorms swept across parts of Lower Saxony and Bremen on Wednesday evening. The Bremen fire brigade battled rainfall of 60 litres per square metre within an hour.
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A tree fell onto the road on Autobahn 27 near Achim. A long traffic jam ensued. Pictures showed the police blocking the road and clearing the tree away.
Floods and lightning strikes
In Bremerhaven, numerous cellars flooded and streets were flooded, the fire department reported. There were around 30 operations. All volunteer fire departments were put on standby before the storm.
In Geestland, east of Bremerhaven, there were also around 30 operations due to the storm; 120 emergency services were deployed. Due to flooding, roads were temporarily closed there, the fire department announced. Cellars also flooded. After a lightning strike in the evening, the roof of a residential building caught fire. The fire was reportedly quickly extinguished; no one was injured.
In Oldenburg, too, the fire brigade was called out more than 50 times in the evening because of flooded streets, uprooted trees, flooded cellars and sidewalks.
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