Torrential rain hits Germany leading to accidents, floods

BERLIN (AP) — Thunderstorms hit Germany late Monday and torrential rain poured down on southern and western parts of the country leading to dozens of accidents and hundreds of firefighter operations throughout the night.

In Bavaria, some villages were flooded, including Moemlingen, near Frankfurt, where streets were completely covered by water and mud and many basements had to be pumped dry by firefighters, German news agency dpa reported on Tuesday.

In Stuttgart, parts of the roof and several statues on the city’s opera house were thrown to the ground by the winds.

“I’m standing underneath the roof and getting very wet,” the opera’s manager Viktor Schoner told dpa late Monday. He said some parts of the stage were flooded when the water poured down inside along the lighting installation. Some 250 people were attending a performance when the storm hit, but there were no injuries, dpa reported.

Altogether, rescue teams were called in more than 330 times Monday and early Tuesday in Stuttgart, and train service was interrupted for hours. Felled trees had to be cut and removed by firefighters.

The states of Baden-Wuerttemberg — where Stuttgart is located — as well as Bavaria and Hesse were especially hard-hit by the deluge-like rains and reported dozens of road accidents by early Tuesday morning. The number of people injured in the crashes was not immediately known.

Seven accidents were reported during heavy rainfalls on the A3 and A48 highways near the town of Montabaur with one person severely and three people slightly injured.