Hailstorm in Germany rips through a town, damaging buildings and cars

Remains of a marquee destroyed by a storm on the outskirts of Kissing, Germany, on Saturday.

By Christopher F. Shuetze

An estimated 80% of buildings were damaged during a hailstorm in a town in southern Germany on Saturday, according to local authorities, leading officials to declare a state of emergency.

The storm was part of a weather system that caused injuries and damage across the southern part of the country over the weekend during one of the most turbulent summers Europe has faced in years.

Hailstones, some of which measured 3 inches wide, damaged cars, roofs and windows during a 15-minute storm in Bad Bayersoien, a small town of 1,300 people in Bavaria.

Video footage from Bad Bayersoien shows entire roofs destroyed by hail. Roof-mounted solar panels were pierced by hailstones and car windows were smashed, according to news reports.

On Sunday morning, local authorities ordered a state of emergency in order to mobilize state resources to clean up the town; emergency roofing was ordered and will be installed until the damage can be repaired permanently.

“The end of the operation is not yet in sight and the forces on the ground still have some heavy work ahead of them,” Anton Speer, the district’s commissioner, said in a statement.

Elsewhere in Bavaria, the storm left several people injured. In Kissing, a town just outside of the city of Augsburg, 12 people were hurt when a gust of wind tore through a festival tent as it was being erected. About 100 residents of a senior home in the town were relocated after the storm damaged the facility’s roof.