As storm Eberhard wrecked havoc in Germany over the weekend, winds were reported to be as strong as 75 mph (120 km/h), resulting in multiple incidents and even loss of life.
This footage was captured via dashcam in Cologne, showing a news team getting caught underneath a fallen roof, which was blasted off a nearby building by the wind storm. Thankfully, nobody was injured, although in a separate case a man did lose his life after a tree fell on his car, reports DW.
It’s likely that the driver simply couldn’t see the impending danger, and therefore couldn’t do much so as to get out of the way in time. Lucky for them, the car withstood the force of the roof – it looks like it’s a Skoda at the very end of the video, likely a Roomster.
The conditions were so bad that German rail operator Deutsche Bahn had to halt rail traffic on several major routes in North Rhine-Westphalia, with multiple long-distance trans and some regional trains taken out of service. There were also delays at airports, including in Frankfurt am Main and at Cologne/Bonn Airport, where two planes had to be diverted to other airports due to strong wind gusts, as per The Local.
Local roads and highways were also damaged by fallen trees and branches, interfering with traffic. In one instance, a loading crane fell into the Rhine River in the city of Duisburg. The driver’s cabin was empty though.