Seven people were killed and at least 26 injured when a freak storm with gale-force 12 winds swept through Berlin yesterday evening.
The storm descended on the city in minutes and vanished less than two hours later, leaving behind millions of euro worth of damage and traffic chaos.
Yesterday the streets around the city were littered with branches, an estimated 1,400 uprooted trees and broken glass.
"We haven't had anything like this in 50 years," a fire brigade spokesman told The Irish Times yesterday.
Meteorologists issued a storm warning yesterday afternoon, but Berliners were caught off guard by the ferocity with which it ripped through the city.
In northern Berlin a 60-year old man was found dead under an uprooted tree, while another man in his 20s was killed by a falling branch in an eastern suburb. In the nearby state of Brandenburg, an 18-year-old died when the roof of his house collapsed. Two drivers were killed by falling trees.
Two boys aged 14 and 16 camping on an island in the Wannsee lake in western Berlin were killed when gale-force winds blew a tree on top of their tent.
The storm came after a festival on the island organised by the youth organisation, "Bridge Berlin-New York", that brought together German children with New York children whose parents died in the September 11th attacks.
"Five minutes after the American children left the island all hell broke loose," said a spokesman. "First it got pitch black and within seconds dozens of old trees started to collapse around us." Dozens of children, many still in swimsuits, went running for cover in their tents, screaming as huge branches and burning barbecues were sent whirling.
An ambulance parked on the island was crushed like a cardboard box as an oak tree came crashing down on its roof.
The gale-force winds of up to 154 kilometres per hour snapped trees like matchsticks and destroyed dozens of houses throughout the city while driving rain left many areas flooded.
Pedestrians outside the Zoologischer Garten train station ran for cover while others grabbed onto lamposts to prevent themselves being blown over.
A Swiss aircraft travelling from Basel to Berlin was forced to make an emergency landing at a former Soviet airbase in an eastern suburb. After circling over Berlin for 90 minutes waiting for the storm to pass, it switched to emergency fuel reserves and began an emergency landing. Police said the 20 passengers on board were "shaken" when they disembarked.
The storm caused serious damage in other northern and western German cities.
"We were having a beer in our house when we heard a huge bang," said Ms Petra Klewitz from Essen, standing in the sodden ruins of her house yesterday.
"The whole roof of our house was gone and was lying on a nearby riding arena."
