At the end of August, after a week of warm summer weather, a hailstorm caused considerable damage around Hamburg in northern Germany. The walnut-sized hailstones came down in the region of Bergedorf, which lies to the southeast of Hamburg. Most of the damage occurred in Vierlande, part of the region Bergedorf.
Many greenhouses are located in this area. About 60 instances of damage were reported to the agricultural insurance. Greenhouses made up two-thirds of the reported damage and mainly minor damage at that (20 to 60 glass panes). However, for about 15 companies, the extent of the damage is up to 800 damaged panes. The stock in these greenhouses may also have been damaged to a significant extent.
On 28 august hailstones damaged more than 60 greenhouse companies in the area of Hamburg (Vierlande), photo: GV
The affected region is home to numerous companies that grow cut flowers, roses, and at least the current harvest has been affected. Even the next harvest might be affected, if the repairs take longer than 2 to 3 weeks.
The day after the storm employees of insurance company Gartenbau Versicherung were already in the region to assess the damage. Due to the substantial size of the damage and the outstanding assessments of the crops, there isn’t a complete assessment of the total extent of the damage yet. The insurance company estimates the total damage to be between a half and one million Euros of insured losses.