Overview

• A powerful thunderstorm on April 23, 2025, brought over two hours of heavy rain to the Harz region, flooding streets and basements with knee-high water.
• Streams and smaller rivers overflowed their banks, exacerbating the flooding in towns like Osterwieck and the Huy municipality.
• More than 200 emergency personnel, including fire brigades from 22 towns, have been deployed to pump out water, clear streets, and secure affected areas.
• No injuries have been reported, but cleanup operations are ongoing as floodwaters have largely receded.
• This incident highlights a pattern of increasingly severe weather events across Europe, linked by experts to climate change.