Thunderstorms and heavy rainfall flooded roads in parts of Germany, causing significant damage in some places, officials said on Friday, as some areas braced for further rainfall.
Rescue workers called out to hundreds of incidents, with the region of Franconia in Bavaria among the places worst affected. Several cars sank in flooded underpasses in Nuremberg and Fürth, and in one district, there was a temporary power cut and streets and cellars were flooded.
The worst financial damage was caused by a heavy thunderstorm in Untermerzbach north of Nuremberg, where a warehouse with around 60 to 70 vehicles went up in flames, most likely due to a lightning strike, the fire brigade said in an initial assessment.
The owner made a similar statement to a dpa reporter at the scene. The damage ran to €5 million ($5.4 million), according to the police.
In the north of the state of Thuringia, streets were also flooded in Nordhausen, and the city said cellars were also flooded. The fire brigade was called out on numerous occasions to pump out cellars and clear roads, with some covered in mud and debris.
More than 100 millilitres of rain fell in the region in less than 12 hours in the past night, the German Weather Service (DWD) said.
In the city of Ludwigshafen in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, a two-family house caught fire during a thunderstorm. Investigations into the cause are under way and the police said they could not rule out a lightning strike. The five occupants of the house were unharmed but the fire caused damages of up to €100,000.
In western Germany, fire brigades in the region of East Westphalia-Lippe were called out due to flooded cellars and rivers temporarily bursting their banks. Meanwhile two campsites had to be evacuated in the Sauerland region.
The DWD issued severe weather warnings in three districts in northern Thuringia on Friday morning, with heavy rain expected for several hours, before somewhat calmer weather in the afternoon.
