The tornado rolled through Paderborn over a distance of five kilometers. The full extent of the destruction is now visible. Dozens of people are injured. Traffic lights and trees were snapped "like matches," says the mayor.
According to Mayor Michael Dreier, the tornado caused massive destruction in several parts of Paderborn with enormous force. According to the authorities, the tornado caused extensive destruction on Friday in a corridor from west to east that is about 300 meters wide and five kilometers long through the middle of the city. Large parts of the city center are "very badly destroyed".
"In the Riemeke Park, the trees are literally snapped like matches. Countless roofs have been completely designed with the pans. A lot of windows have been smashed by the wind," said Dreier at a press conference.
According to him, 43 people were injured by the tornado. 13 of them are seriously injured, including one seriously injured person. Dreier said his thoughts were with the injured. He also thanked the more than 400 emergency services "from the bottom of my heart" who had deployed to more than 200 storm operations.
In the heart of the city, where the new central bus station is being built, traffic lights have been broken like matches. Trees fell on a bus, fortunately no one was seriously injured. The tornado destroyed countless roofs and panes around the headwaters of the Pader and made apartments uninhabitable. "It was, and still is, an unimaginable image," he said.
The roof of the Liborianum, the educational and conference center of the Archdiocese of Paderborn, was severely damaged. The roof tiles would have "eaten" into the plaster of neighboring houses. In a corridor about 300 meters wide, there was a high degree of destruction. In an industrial area, companies were completely destroyed. According to him, the tornado caused crash barriers to fly through the area like shredded paper.
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