Baden-Württemberg was hit hard by the onset of winter. There are hundreds of accidents on the roads, people are injured. In Freiburg, injured people are temporarily treated in an exhibition hall.
Freiburg (dpa / lsw) - snowfalls and dangerous black ice have triggered chaotic conditions in the southwest. There have been hundreds of traffic accidents on the roads across the country, there has been property damage and people have been injured, the authorities reported on Wednesday.
It looked particularly bad in southern Baden: Because clinics were overcrowded due to the many accidents, rescue workers set up a treatment center in the Freiburg exhibition hall. Up to 15 injured people could be treated there at the same time and transported further, as the Red Cross announced. Around 70 helpers from aid organizations were deployed there. According to a spokeswoman, the emergency room at the BG Clinic in Tübingen was also working at full capacity.
The city reported that there were around 250 casualties on the streets of Freiburg alone by late afternoon. Two buses and a gritting vehicle were also involved in the accidents in the region, the police said. The overall extent is extraordinary, said a police spokesman.
Emergency doctor Daniel Schmitz said in the exhibition hall that there were significantly more injuries than usual. But most of them were only slightly wounded and could be treated regularly. According to him, the situation had eased considerably by the afternoon. Task forces from Karlsruhe, Rastatt and Villingen-Schwenningen would have supported the people of Freiburg - a scenario that is known from exercises.
The city of Freiburg blocked large parts of the Münsterplatz, which is popular with tourists, and the main shopping street in the old town because of the mirror-smooth streets. A spokesman for the city said it was very slippery, especially on the paving stones. The city cleaning department has been spreading intensively since the early hours of the morning. "But with the persistent weather - rain that freezes and does not thaw - the smoothness cannot be tackled everywhere and continuously," said a statement from the Black Forest metropolis. "The salt doesn't hold," said an employee of the "Badische Zeitung", "the surface is too uneven and the salt immediately trickles into the joints".
It also crashed in other regions. There were more than 100 accidents in the area of the Pforzheim police headquarters by the afternoon. "There was a lot of property damage and personal injury," the police said. According to the police, 59 slippery accidents occurred in the Ludwigsburg district by Wednesday morning. The Presidium in Stuttgart reported around 40 traffic accidents with a total of 8 minor injuries. "In addition, there were significant traffic obstructions due to broken-down vehicles."
The German Weather Service (DWD) issued an official storm warning of thick black ice in parts of Baden-Württemberg. "The precipitation is so heavy that the ice sheet is growing so that icy conditions are to be expected," said a DWD meteorologist. For the high altitudes of the southern Black Forest, there were warnings of stormy gusts of up to 80 kilometers per hour. There is also fog.
The people in Baden-Württemberg will have to be prepared for the weather-related risk of slipping in the coming days. On Thursday night, there was a widespread danger of frozen rain, especially in the Swabian Jura and in the Black Forest, said a meteorologist from the DWD in Stuttgart. "That means black ice." Drizzling rain can also freeze in some places in the north of the country. "Actually, you should be careful everywhere."
The weather situation will move east on Thursday, the expert said. "Then we have more high-pressure influence on the menu." On Friday the next low will come from the south-west, and during the night it will snow widely in the southern half. Up to five centimeters of fresh snow can be expected. According to the forecast, the snowfall will slowly decrease over the course of the day, and the low will continue. The weekend should be sunny with temperatures in the minus range.
On Wednesday there was real ice armor, especially in the south, for example on cars because of freezing wet. "These types of weather patterns are not exceptional," said the meteorologist. "It belongs to winter." However, he admitted that there had not been so much icy rain in Baden-Württemberg for a long time.
Comparatively mild temperatures are to follow the onset of winter next week: the German Weather Service expects maximum values of up to plus ten degrees in the Freiburg area as early as Monday. "There could be a couple of twelves in the Upper Rhine Graben on Tuesday." But don't give up hope for a white Christmas.
The Baden-Baden fire brigade meanwhile advised citizens to exercise particular caution when entering ice surfaces. "Children are particularly at risk. They easily overestimate the fact that the ice cover is still far too thin. Even if the ice seems solid near the shore, it can look different a few meters further on. If the ice breaks away, you inevitably fall into the water. The result is one life-threatening hypothermia."
According to the fire department, the ice must be at least 15 centimeters thick. Stepping on ice that has dark spots or cracks is life-threatening. Crowds of people like ice skating are just as life-threatening because of the risk of overloading. If the ice is crackling and cracking, has cracks or if water is gushing onto the surface, the ice surface should not be stepped on.
Forest Minister Peter Hauk (CDU) said that the risk of branches breaking and falling, which give way under the load, is increasing. This is a significant danger for forest visitors. "In addition, forest paths can become icy and very slippery or blocked by fallen trees. Therefore, these forest areas should be avoided at all costs for the time being until the snow has melted from the branches of the trees and safe path conditions are restored."
