Violent storm hits Rhein-Erft: Brühl and Erftstadt in chaos!

Violent storm hits Rhein-Erft: Brühl and Erftstadt in chaos!

On Saturday afternoon, June 15, 2025, a violent storm hit the Rhein-Erft district and left devastating effects. The cities of Brühl and Erftstadt were particularly hard hit, with rainfall accompanied by hail and gusts of up to 100 km/h. A warning via the Nina-Warnapp was issued for the entire Rhein-Erft district in order to inform citizens in a timely manner and to point out possible dangers, such as Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger reported.

The Erftstadt fire brigade was under great demand and had to be deployed around 50 times to clear fallen trees, torn branches and water damage. The operations in Gymnich, where a lightning strike set fire to a roof structure, and in Niederberg, where damage to the roof of the Gertrudenhof was discovered, were particularly challenging. Despite the water penetrating in certain places, an expert from the Federal Agency for Technical Relief gave the all-clear. In Brühl there were slightly fewer operations with 17 incidents, but here too, fallen branches and flooded basements presented the volunteers with major challenges.

The consequences of the storm

Famous streets in Brühl were under water, and a tree fell on a residential building in the east side of the city, fortunately with no injuries. In Badorf, the hailstones caused solar panels to be blown off garage roofs and cars were damaged. Trees and plants were also not spared from the storm damage. After the storm, the emergency services in Brühl-Nord had to respond to smoke from a grill, which required further measures. Four people were brought to safety, the grill was extinguished and the apartment was ventilated.

The situation in Erftstadt is also worrying, where the renewed heavy rainfall brings with it the risk of impending dam failures in the Blessem and Bliesheim districts. The Rhein-Erft district crisis team is therefore declaring a disaster and warning of possible evacuations. The surrounding communities, including Kerpen, Bergheim and Bedburg, are also particularly at risk. District Administrator Frank Rock described the current conditions as extremely serious and appealed for citizens' solidarity, while the fire department is calling on residents in the vulnerable areas to evacuate. Four people are currently missing in Blessem and the rescuers are using helicopters to defuse the situation. The Erftstadt hospital is also affected and has to be evacuated because it is already half a meter under water, as t-online.de reports.

A moving weather image

The weather situation is a reflection of the current climatic trends, which are bringing us increasingly severe and frequent storms. Such natural disasters have become more frequent in Germany in recent years, as illustrated by the events surrounding the Ahrweiler tornado in July 2021, which caused unimaginable human and economic damage Merkur. Given the current rainfall in the Rhein-Erft district, such perceived natural phenomena can also be felt here. The protective measures require well-coordinated interaction between residents, emergency services and administration in order to prevent possible escalations and provide assistance.

In this challenging situation, the importance of community and neighborhood becomes clear once again. Many people have already offered support in the form of accommodation or food via social media. It shows that solidarity among citizens is strong even in difficult times. A good hand at crisis management and quick reactions are now required.