Two dead in Storm Yelena in Germany

In Saxony-Anhalt, near the southern Harz mountains, a 55-year-old man died on a country road Thursday morning. Police said a tree fell on the man’s car due to strong winds. Then the moving car overturned. A 37-year-old man died on a country road in Lower Saxony between Bad Bevensen and Seedorf. Here, too, a tree fell on the car.

After heavy damage from the storm and the cancellation of several trains Thursday morning, Deutsche Bahn has started cleaning up. “It is still too early to record the damage, but the damage is significant,” said Bahn spokesman Achim Staus. “Currently, rail repair crews are working flat to clear roads, cut trees with chainsaws or repair overhead lines, which is not easy under these weather conditions.”

Due to the ongoing storm, more disturbances are expected. There will also be problems with the second expected storm front, Staus said. “I am afraid that travelers will have to live under restrictions for a longer period of time.” So the validity of tickets is longer.

The spokesman said the railway has completely halted long-distance traffic to ICE and IC stations in northern and northeastern Germany. According to reports from the railways, it affected Lower Saxony, Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Berlin and Brandenburg since the night. There have also been regional transfer cancellations and delays in several federal states.

There were strong winds and hurricanes during the night. Fire brigades and police control stations have reported numerous operations in many places in the morning hours, but no major damage has occurred at the moment. The storm temporarily cut power to thousands of homes in West Mecklenburg, North Brandenburg, Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia.

On a stormy journey across the Elbe in the morning, a large wave smashed the windshield of the Hamburg Port ferry. Tobias Hack, managing director of operating company Hadag, said it appeared no one on board was seriously injured. According to the information of the German news agency (dpa), one passenger was slightly injured.

In Berlin, a 15-meter antenna mast fell on the Ringbahn in a storm. The fire brigade moved with a crane to clear the road. The Berlin fire brigade declared a state of emergency at night and Thursday morning.

Of course, there were also restrictions on air traffic. Passengers at BER Berlin-Brandenburg Airport needed patience in the morning. A spokesman for the operator said that due to strong winds, handling of the aircraft was severely restricted, and there were delays. According to the operator, communications with Berlin, Munich and Hamburg at the largest German airport in Frankfurt were affected. About 12 flights were canceled at Hamburg Airport.

The storm front also forces the ship’s passengers to be patient. A spokeswoman for the port authority HPA said the Elbe River is currently closed to large vessels, so the cruise ship “Aidaprima” was not allowed to call in the port of Hamburg as planned. Ferry traffic has also been temporarily suspended in many places, for example in Lübeck or Rostock.

The storm also caused power outages and traffic delays in the Czech Republic, Great Britain and Poland. More than 300,000 homes in the Czech Republic were without power on Thursday because lines were damaged. In northern England, thousands of families were temporarily cut off from power supplies. In Krakow, a crane at a construction site overturned in strong winds, injuring four construction workers. Police said two of the men died in hospital of their injuries.

According to the DWD, winds from the Ylenia Depression should lower slowly from Thursday afternoon. However, the breath should only be short. The next cyclone – named ‘Zainab’ – is expected to come from the British Isles early Friday afternoon.

Especially on the coasts, it should get rough from Friday to Saturday, said Franka Norath, a meteorologist for the German Weather Service (DWD). We warn of severe hurricanes with speeds of up to 135 kilometers per hour on the coast of the North Sea.” Severe hurricanes with speeds of up to 135 kilometers per hour are also expected on the Baltic Sea coast Friday evening. In other areas of the north, hurricane-like hurricanes can be expected.