Storm chaos in Oberhavel: 94 fire brigade operations and roof fire!

Storm chaos in Oberhavel: 94 fire brigade operations and roof fire!

A strong storm caused quite a stir in the Oberhavel district on June 27, 2025. First there were fallen trees and flooded streets, while a lightning strike in Velten triggered a roof fire. The Oranienburg fire department had to respond to a total of 94 missions, a clear increase compared to the 15 missions during the previous storm. The districts of Friedrichsthal and Bernöwe were particularly hard hit, with Friedrichsthal and Malz temporarily cut off from the rest of the world.

“There were a lot of bangs,” residents reported, and that’s not an exaggeration. The S-Bahn connections in Berlin had to be temporarily suspended at around 6:20 p.m., which significantly affected commuter traffic. The lines S1 from Oranienburg, S8 from Birkenwerder and S25 from Hennigsdorf were affected. Traffic was idle until late in the evening, which caused some excitement in the city.

The damage in detail

The village road (L17) in Schwante was flooded at times, as was the Spandauer Landstrasse between Nieder Neuendorf and Spandau, which had to be completely closed due to fallen trees. About 20 cars were “trapped” between the trees, further symbolizing the impact of the storm. The North Police Department also reported 42 missions, primarily to secure the fire brigade's operations.

The roof structure fire in Velten, caused by a lightning strike, occurred around 7 p.m. Thanks to the quick response of the emergency services, the fire was quickly extinguished and fortunately there were no injuries. However, the extent of the damage in the region remains significant and many operational sites could not be fully processed. The Technical Relief Agency (THW) coordinated the forces together with the local fire departments and the Potsdam control center.

A look beyond the borders

The storm was not only an issue in Oberhavel. A similar weather phenomenon also raged in East Hesse: On August 17, 2023, the fire brigades there had to be deployed in a total of 74 cases, including in Alsfeld. The amount of rainfall was immense and reached 43.9 liters in Schlitz alone. There were no injuries there either, but the fire department was still called upon to repair the damage. A total of 246 full cellars were recorded in the Main-Kinzig district, which illustrates the extensive work carried out by the emergency services.

For anyone looking for more information about lightning events, the Lightning Detection website is a helpful resource for tracking lightning strikes live and assessing the current weather situation. Blitzortung offers comprehensive information and maps.

The situation in the Oberhavel district is expected to cause excitement for some time. The affected communities are working intensively to repair the damage and restore transport connections as quickly as possible. The storm shows once again how quickly the weather can change and what challenges the emergency services have to overcome.

Further information and current developments can be found at maz-online.de and fuldaerzeitung.de.