After a heavy storm: fallen branches and flooded cellars in the urban area
A severe thunderstorm hit the Bocholt urban area within a short space of time in the early hours of Wednesday evening. The Bocholt fire brigade received numerous emergency calls within an hour. Nobody was injured. The emergency services were in constant action to deal with the consequences of the heavy rain, thunderstorms and locally heavy squalls.
According to Dirk Arping, head of the Bocholt fire brigade, Bocholt city centre and parts of Stenern were particularly badly affected. In addition to numerous flooded streets, it was mainly fallen branches and fallen trees that caused danger and damage. In the Dinxperloer Straße area, some manhole covers were even pushed out of their anchors by overflowing sewers.
There was considerable storm damage in Langenbergpark due to fallen branches, so the park was closed by the city's public order office as a precautionary measure. The city of Bocholt appealed to the public to avoid parks and other tree-rich areas during and immediately after the storm.
The fire brigade was deployed with all available resources. Units from the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) were also called in to provide administrative assistance. The emergency services were also supported by forces from the public order office and the waste disposal and service company (ESB), whose employees were involved in removing branches and assessing the road safety of affected trees, among other things. In total, around 125 emergency services were deployed in the Bocholt city area.
"The operations will be dealt with gradually according to priority", said Dirk Arping, head of the Bocholt fire brigade. The operations are expected to continue into the night.
DWD warnings
