Heavy rain in Germany causes flooding and leads to flight cancelations in Frankfurt
BERLIN (AP) — Heavy rain in parts of Germany caused flooding and led to dozens of flight cancelations at Frankfurt Airport, the country’s busiest and a major European hub, authorities said Thursday.
The airport said large quantities of water accumulated on the tarmac Wednesday evening and ground handling was suspended for more than two hours, German news agency dpa reported.
The airport website showed about 70 flights were canceled by 11 p.m., when flying is ordinarily halted for the night, while 23 flights headed for Frankfurt were diverted to other airports.
Downpours in parts of southwestern and central Germany led to flooded basements and streets. In Gelsenkirchen, in the western Ruhr district, the fire service said people were rescued from their cars where several highway underpasses were under water.
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Local media reported, the storm swept over southwest Germany yesterday evening, dumping huge quantities of water and reportedly unleashing lightning for about an hour.
Frankfurt airport spokesman today said, it was forced to cancel 90 flights while 23 more were re-routed to land at other airports. Some passengers slept on camp beds while many spent the night at the airport hotel.
The fire service said, it launched more than 500 operations from yesterday evening to today morning related to the storm.
It said, streets, cellars and lower-lying residential areas were rapidly flooded, while trees toppled over, hitting vehicles. The storm also affected other areas, with Gelsenkirchen, in the region North Rhine-Westphalia, hard hit.
Emergency service workers rescued people from vehicles at several highway underpasses.
AccuWeather shared a video on Social Media about flash flooding in Germany.
Yes, there is a road underneath all that water. Heavy rain led to flash flooding in Germany, causing major travel disruptions. pic.twitter.com/uyLXfNsBju
— AccuWeather (@accuweather) August 17, 2023
