The professional fire brigade of Bonn had observed the weather situation in the control centre in Lievelingsweg very closely, where all information from the weather services was received and evaluated. The staff was reinforced so that the situation could be closely monitored in the Bonn area. “We have additional management colleagues and representatives of the volunteer fire brigades on duty,” fire department spokesman Martin Haselbauer explained to the GA. As early as early Sunday afternoon, the services were already preparing for “a large number of emergency calls and operations in the city area”. The fire stations were also reinforced by colleagues who were actually off duty. By early evening, the rescuers had ten weather-related assignments, which the volunteer fire brigades and the professional fire brigade could handle. In addition, the city set up a citizens’ hotline. The fire department and also the city administration appealed to citizens not to block the emergency calls of the fire department and police, to which only real emergencies should be reported.

On the website of the city of Bonn, the Bonn fire brigade took care of the warning notices from 2 p.m. onwards, which were displayed in a pop-up window and updated constantly. Among other things, Bonn residents were asked to remain in safety and to keep windows and doors closed. In addition, media coverage was to be closely followed.

As a precaution, numerous schools in the city area have cancelled today's lessons. While the archiepiscopal schools had already informed about the cancellation on Friday, the city of Bonn left it up to the headmasters of municipal schools to decide for themselves whether or not classes should take place.

The city administration had already informed the schools on Friday afternoon that it agreed with the respective decisions of the school directors.

On Sunday, the Tannenbusch, Clara Schumann and Beethoven Grammar Schools, among others, announced that they would cancel classes. Classes are also cancelled at the Friedrich-Ebert-Gymnasium and a sixth-grade excursion will be postponed by one day.

City nurseries will remain open on Monday, but there will be no outdoor activities. This was announced by the city administration on Sunday in view of the announced storm low Sabine. Carolin Krause, councillor for school, social affairs and youth said: “In the nurseries, we will ensure that children and young people are looked after, although perhaps not everywhere to the usual extent”. The decision whether children are sent to day nurseries or to school is ultimately up to the parents. Krause said “please weigh the potential risk carefully”.

The storm also had an impact on rail traffic in Bonn's main station from the afternoon onwards. Trains were delayed due to disturbances at level crossings and overhead lines. At about 5.30 p.m., all rail traffic in NRW was completely suspended.

The railway company National Express had taken precautions in the run-up to the storm to be as well prepared as possible for various scenarios. “A reduction in the speed of the trains in service is very likely,” explained Cansu Erdogan of National Express, “As things stand at present, it is quite unlikely that operations will begin on Monday morning as planned,” said Erdogan.

The storm also had an impact on culture and sport. Telekom Baskets Bonn cancelled their home game against Ratiopharm Ulm in the Telekom Dome after consulting with the fire services.

Malentes Theater Palast cancelled their performance of “Oh Alpenglühn”. “Safety must come first, because we have to stop performances from wind speeds more than gale force 8”, the responsible persons explained on their Facebook page.

(Original text; ga.de; translation John Chandler)