Storms and heavy rain flood roads, block railway lines in Germany

BERLIN (AP) — Storms and heavy rain across a large swath of Germany have flooded roads and forced the closure of some major railway routes, but there is no immediate word of any injuries. Germany’s national weather service had warned earlier this week of severe storms with significant amounts of rainfall, which hit on Thursday. In the western city of Duisburg, the fire service said it rescued several people from cars that got stuck on flooded streets. Shops were flooded and streets inundated in the northern city of Braunschweig, and there were similar reports from Kassel in central Germany. In Hattersheim, near Frankfurt, trees fell on houses and cars.