The second major storm to hit Germany in a month has flooded city streets and caused havoc for transport. Four people were killed when the brutal winds brought down trees in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Some 22,000 metric tons of water have to be pumped out of the freighter "Glory Amsterdam" before it can be towed back out to seaImage: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Assanimoghaddam
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Storm Herwart sweeps across Germany, Czech Republic, Poland
Storm Herwart wreaked havoc across parts of Germany, disrupting public transport, causing floods and uprooting trees. Strong winds also battered Poland and Czech Republic, where two people were killed by falling trees.
Image: picture alliance/CTK/dpa/D. Taneèek
History in ruins
In Oldenswort in Schleswig Holstein, a historic windmill fell victim to storm Herwart. Windmill Catharina was built in 1786 and was a huge draw among tourists, who could rent a room inside the historical structure.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/K. Sören
Under the water
The Elbe River breached its banks in Hamburg, flooding a nearby parking lot. Fire fighters in the city have received 500 calls to deal with emergency situations.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Bockwoldt
Berlin: state of emergency
The Berlin fire brigade declared a state of emergency early Sunday as Herwart roared over the German capital. One person was seriously injured when scaffolding from a construction site fell on him.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/P. Zinken
Flood of calls
The Berlin fire brigade said it had received 100 emergency phone calls between 4 a.m. (0300 GMT) and 7 a.m. It has requested all volunteer fire fighters to report for duty.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
Public transport disrupted
An information board informs passengers in Berlin about cancelled trains caused by Herwart. Deutsche Bahn has cancelled all trains in seven of the country's 16 states.
Image: Reuters/A. Schmidt
Trees uprooted
The storm has uprooted several trees in the affected regions. No casualties or injuries have been reported in Germany so far due to falling trees.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. März
Strong winds in central Europe
Intense winds also battered central Europe, killing two people in Poland and two
in the Czech Republic. All four people were killed by falling trees.
Image: picture alliance/CTK/dpa/D. Taneèek
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Germany was still reeling from the aftermath of Storm Herwart on Tuesday after days of train standstills, flooding and traffic chaos that destroyed historic buildings and caused Berlin to declare a state of emergency.
In the Czech Republic and Poland, Herwart claimed the lives of four people who were struck by falling trees.
On the North Sea island of Langeoog, a freight ship remained stranded on the beach after flood waters receded. The town has called in top salvage experts, who remained stumped two days after the worst of the storm.
Over the weekend, the storm wrecked havoc on the nation's transport system. The trains in much of northern Germany, including Hannover and Hamburg, came to a complete stop – forcing rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) to send thousands of passengers in cramped taxis, sometimes for hours, to destinations as far away as Berlin.
Cyclists in Hamburg ride through the flood waters near the city's famous harborImage: Reuters/F. Bimmer
Train services finally returned to normal on Tuesday, but not after prompting outrage at how ill-prepared DB is for any minor disruption to the services. In August, an accident on a short stretch of track in the south of Germany interrupted travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers, as well as the delivery of necessary goods like food and medicine for nearly two months.
As global temperatures rise, countries like Germany – which are usually free from many of the natural disasters that plague the rest of the world – are experiencing more extreme weather. October 2017 is the warmest October on record, at an average of 11.1 degrees Celsius (52 degrees Fahrenheit). Earlier this month, Storm Xavier wreaked similar havoc across the country.
