Preliminary assessment of hurricane "Friederike" in Chemnitz

Hurricane "Friederike" also hit Chemnitz yesterday, Thursday. Clean-up work is currently underway in the city. This will continue over the coming weeks. The damage assessment is still ongoing at the moment and will certainly keep employees busy in the coming weeks. No personal injuries are known.

The emergency services of the professional fire brigades and the volunteer fire brigades were in continuous operation yesterday. They were called out to a total of 200 incidents by 8pm on Thursday evening.

Below are some examples of the damage caused by the hurricane:

The main focus was on fallen trees on vehicles and roads and railway tracks were frequently blocked by trees. Roof tiles were also covered by the storm, for example at the König-Albert-Museum on Theaterplatz. The roof covering of the opera house was damaged. The roofs of the Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff-Gymnasium and the Rabenstein primary school were also damaged by a broken tree top or by trees.

Five spruce trees were uprooted and two tree tops were broken off at Kirchner Primary School, two tree tops were also torn off at Einsiedel Grammar School and a willow was uprooted at Borna Primary School. A branch broke off a tree at the Gotthold-Ephraim-Lessing primary school, the top of a spruce broke off at the Johannes Trüper special education centre and a spruce was torn out of the ground at the Schönau secondary school.

The roof of the Weydemyerstraße 21 day-care centre was minimally damaged by the storm. Trees were uprooted on the grounds of the Flemmingstraße 1a, Schmidt-Rottluff-Straße 50 and Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße 190 daycare centres . There was no damage to the buildings. The canopy to the kitchen entrance of the Rudolf-Krahl-Straße 10 daycare centre came loose. A fence at the Walter-Ranft-Straße 72 daycare centre was damaged by a tree. The roofing felt has come loose from the playhouse at the Ferdinandstraße 159 daycare centre.

A conifer fell onto a residential building in Zschopauer Straße and damaged the roof. The fence on the property of the asylum seekers' home on Altendorfer Straße was damaged by a fallen tree on the neighbouring property.

Some branches are lying on the ground in the town's outdoor swimming pools. As things stand, no damage has been reported. A window pane has been broken in the municipal swimming pool and three trees have fallen in the sports forum and the roof of a shed has been lifted off.

It is currently not possible to say how much damage was caused in each case.

The game park was also severely affected by storm damage. Falling branches and fallen trees have damaged fences and blocked paths. Clean-up work is also currently underway on the 35-hectare site. The wildlife park will therefore be closed to visitors today and at the weekend. Apart from minor damage, the zoo is not affected. The facility is therefore open.

Parks department warns against entering the forest

Yesterday's storm caused damage to street trees, park trees and in the communal forest. Trees have fallen and branches have broken off. There is also damage in the public green spaces and parks, for example in Küchwaldpark, the castle ponds, Luisenplatz and Andréplatz. It will take some time to clear up the damage. There is storm damaged timber in the communal forest. This will be processed by forestry contractors in the coming days and weeks.

The storm caused damage in the forests of the city of Chemnitz. Even though the most important paths will soon be cleared, the risk of trees that are no longer sufficiently rooted, broken crowns or branches remains high. There is generally a high risk of breakage.

The Parks Department strongly warns against entering the woods over the next few days. The clearing work will continue until the end of February 2018.