Germany’s largest airport was racing Thursday to rebook passengers on new flights after a massive storm caused scores of cancellations and flooding that deluged streets and toppled trees.
Late Wednesday, a storm blew through southwest Germany, dumping massive amounts of water and apparently unleashing over 25,000 bolts of lightning in just an hour.
Had quite a few DM’s from people wondering why flights were diverting away from Frankfurt….here’s your answer 👇💦
— Flight Emergency (@FlightEmergency) August 16, 2023
Frankfurt Airport reported it was forced to cancel 90 flights while another 23 were redirected to other airports.
Some Travelers slept on camp beds, while others stayed at the airport hotel.
A spokesperson said, “Today, the situation will probably stabilize again”.
“There are still passengers here who need to be booked onto new flights”, the spokesperson added.
The fire department in Germany’s financial capital said it initiated almost 500 storm-related operations from late Wednesday to early Thursday.
“There were more than 350 incidents of water flooding into buildings and 17 fallen trees”, they claimed, adding that off-duty troops were called in to assist.
The storm also impacted other locations, with Gelsenkirchen in the North Rhine-Westphalia being particularly heavily damaged.
According to the fire department, streets, cellars, and lower-lying residential areas were rapidly flooded, while trees toppled over, hitting vehicles.
People were rescued from vehicles at various highway underpasses by emergency personnel.
Parked vehicles became submerged in one location, and some streets were only reachable with inflatable boats.
Climate warning, according to experts, is increasing the frequency and intensity of floods.
Floods killed around 180 people in Germany’s western districts of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia in 2021.
Also read: 25 Countries Experiencing Extremely High Water Stress Due To Global Water Scarcity
