Tennis Ball Sized Hail Pounds Germany in Series of Storms

Strong storms in North Rhine-Westphalia and parts of southwestern Germany flooded cellars and caused mudslides on Friday morning.

Tennis-ball sized hail destroyed cars in Krefeld. Police reported that countless car windows and rooftops had been demolished in the city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Emergency services were working flat out on Saturday to restore orderto southwest Germany after storms with hailstones the size of tennisballs injured people, killed zoo animals, and stopped traffic.

On Saturday morning, the train line leading from Würzburg to Frankfurtremained closed after fallen trees damaged power lines. Other routes inthe southwest were affected by numerous delays.

The zoo in Krefeld was particularly hard hit. Nine of the park'sflamingos and several chickens and ducks were killed after being hit byhailstones. A zoo spokesman said four of the flamingos were killed whenhit on the head, and five suffered such severe bone fractures that theyhad to be put down.