Several German federal states were hit by severe storms on Wednesday evening, leaving at least one person dead and others injured. The victim was a 58-year-old woman who had sought shelter from the storm at a covered seating area together with another walker, the police headquarters in Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate, announced on Thursday morning.
Despite taking cover, she was struck and killed by a tree. According to the police, the two women were out walking on Wednesday evening in the area covered by the Mayen police directorate when they took shelter at a covered seating area beside a farm track. A tree standing behind the seating area was uprooted by the storm and fell onto the structure.
Both women were hit by the tree, police said. The 58-year-old died as a result of her injuries. Her 47-year-old companion was also seriously injured.
The storm caused considerable damage in places, according to police. The Westerwaldkreis district was the worst affected. Buildings were damaged and trees brought down. There were also local power outages and traffic disruption. The district authority said a firefighter was injured by an electric shock and taken to hospital. The municipalities of Wirges, Wallmerod, Montabaur, Ransbach-Baumbach and Höhr-Grenzhausen were particularly hard hit.
Numerous trees came down across the A3 and A48 motorways at the Dernbach interchange in the Westerwald. Some lanes remained closed for around two hours while clean-up work was carried out. Near Bendorf, an articulated lorry overturned on a bridge and blocked several lanes.
Several people were injured in Fürstenwalde in Brandenburg. The roof of a day care centre was torn off, a spokeswoman for the town told the news agency AFP on Thursday. According to media reports, a tornado is believed to have been responsible. Videos posted on social media showed a tree lodged in the roof of a residential building.
Thuringia and Hesse were also affected. Media reports suggest tornadoes occurred in Solms in Hesse and near Arnstadt in Thuringia. Police in Offenbach were called out to numerous incidents involving fallen trees and construction barriers blown over. No one was injured in those cases, according to the reports.
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