BERLIN – Deadly severe weather systems swept through large swathes of Germany overnight, leaving one person dead, multiple others injured, and leaving a trail of widespread structural damage across at least six German states, local law enforcement and meteorological agencies confirmed Thursday.
The fatality was recorded in the small town of Waldorf, located in the southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate. According to a report from Germany’s leading national news agency dpa, two women aged 58 and 47 had been walking together when the sudden storm hit. The pair sought cover from strong winds and heavy rain under a covered outdoor seating area, but a powerful gust uprooted a large nearby tree, which collapsed directly onto the structure. The 58-year-old woman suffered fatal trauma and died at the accident site before emergency responders could arrive, a police spokesperson confirmed. The 47-year-old sustained serious injuries and was immediately transported to a local hospital for urgent treatment.
Further east, a tornado touched down in Fürstenwalde, a town located roughly 49 miles southeast of Berlin. The twister tore rooftops off multiple residential and commercial buildings, sent falling trees crashing into parked vehicles, and left one person with non-life-threatening injuries, dpa reported.
In the western German town of Höhr-Grenzhausen, located in the Westerwald district, intense wind gusts ripped partial exterior walls off multiple buildings, leaving at least two residential properties structurally compromised. Falling facade fragments and airborne debris caused additional damage across the area, while dozens of trees were uprooted. The storm also knocked out power across large sections of the town, and strong winds overturned a heavy truck on the A61 autobahn, closing a section of the major highway for several hours.
Emergency dispatch centers in three additional southern and central German states – Hesse, Thuringia, and Bavaria – received hundreds of weather-related emergency calls overnight as the storm system moved across the country. In Kronach, a town in northern Bavaria, local authorities were forced to partially evacuate a long-planned village festival Wednesday evening. Roughly 3,500 attendees had to evacuate the open-air section of the festival grounds, though organizers confirmed the event could resume indoors at the venue’s enclosed beer halls, with no additional injuries reported.
In Wetzlar, central Hesse, local fire department officials confirmed that the storm damaged roughly 60 residential properties. In some cases, strong winds tore full roofing sections off buildings and carried them as far as 110 yards away, creating additional hazards for residents and first responders.
In the wake of the overnight damage, Germany’s national meteorological body, the German Weather Service, has issued a fresh warning for additional severe storm activity across southern Germany later Thursday, with the highest risk concentrated in the southern states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria.