Duisburg (dpa / lnw) - Duisburg was particularly affected by the thunderstorm front over the Rhineland on Thursday evening. The phones in the Baerl district failed, reported the fire brigade, which had to process 500 emergency calls in a short time. In the case of operations without danger to people, it could take a while for the fire brigade to arrive, it said.
In neighboring Mülheim/Ruhr, an approximately 20 meter high oak tree was probably split by a lightning strike. Half of a tree fell on a two-storey house and damaged the roof. A car was buried by the tree. People were not harmed.
In Krefeld, streets and cellars were flooded, trees fell down - including on the train route between Krefeld and Meerbusch, which was temporarily blocked as a result. In Cologne, the fire brigade reported 32 missions via Twitter. Trees had fallen there too. The German Weather Service had warned of the thunderstorm front with heavy rain.
