Flood - Normalization at flood crisis points in Thuringia
The opening of a Helme dyke has brought relief to the flood situation in the village of Mönchpfiffel-Nikolausrieth in the Kyffhäuserkreis district. The situation in the village of 300 inhabitants directly on the border with Saxony-Anhalt, which has been critical since Thursday, has eased, said a spokesman for the district administration on Friday. The dyke near the village had been opened in a controlled manner on Thursday evening in order to drain the water from the river onto fields. "It turned out that this was the right decision," said the spokesperson. The water levels in the Helme are currently not rising any further. However, the all-clear has not yet been given.
The water level is being constantly monitored and a crisis team from the district is still in action. According to the Thuringian State Office for the Environment, Mining and Nature Conservation (TLUBN), the water level in the Helme is expected to remain high over the next few days, as the Kelbra reservoir in neighboring Saxony-Anhalt, which was overloaded after massive rainfall around Christmas, will still have to release water into the river in a controlled manner. "We hope that the opened dyke will hold," said Nils Fröhlich, spokesman for the authorities.
Near Mönchpfiffel-Nikolausrieth, excavators had removed a section of the Helme dyke crest to divert the water away from the small village. It now flows into a flood ditch further south near Kalbsrieth. From the point of view of the Kyffhäuser District Office, the cooperation with the authorities in Saxony-Anhalt during the opening of the dyke worked well. The Helme dyke, like the Kelbra dam, belongs to Saxony-Anhalt.
The situation in Windehausen (Nordhausen district) also continued to normalize before the turn of the year. Windehausen was flooded by meltwater from the River Zorge and groundwater that had been pushed upwards after heavy rainfall at Christmas. The district of Heringen was evacuated. The residents were able to return to their homes on Thursday. According to Mayor Matthias Marquardt (Left Party), non-residents were still not allowed to enter the village for the time being on Friday - to protect them from "disaster tourists".
"The groundwater is continuing to recede," said Marquardt. The clean-up work and assessment of the damage is ongoing. Not all cellars are dry again yet. A shuttle bus service was also set up for residents on Friday to relieve the town of private vehicles during the clean-up work. According to the mayor, normality should return on Saturday. Marquardt said that he did not expect any new problems in Windehausen due to the forecast of new heavy rainfall in the southern Harz region.
However, a transformer station in Auleben, which also belongs to Heringen, is causing concern. It is threatened by water backing up from the Kelbra reservoir in Saxony-Anhalt. "If the station fails, it will be critical and there will be no power for the water pumps in the entire Goldene Aue," says Marquardt. The Goldene Aue is a landscape crossed by the River Helme between Nordhausen(Thuringia) and Sangerhausen (Saxony-Anhalt).
The German Weather Service (DWD) had announced new heavy rainfall in the southern Harz region for Friday. In any case, December in Thuringia turned out to be a rainy month, as the DWD reported on Friday. By the end of the month, an average of 95 liters of precipitation had fallen, an increase of around 55 percent compared to the reference period. Overall, the wintry weather with moderate frosts quickly turned into mild and wet weather. On Christmas days, temperatures locally rose to over 12 degrees Celsius, for example to 12.9 degrees in Jena on December 24.
There was heavy rainfall and thaw on the festive days, with flooding in some regions of northern and southern Thuringia. Up to 300 liters of precipitation per square meter were measured locally in the Thuringian Forest.
Flood information center DWD forecast
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- Despite the improvement in Mönchpfiffel-Nikolausrieth, the Water Level in the Helme, affected by the overloaded Kelbra reservoir in neighboring Saxony-Anhalt, is expected to remain high due to controlled water releases.
- The Environment in Windehausen, which was flooded by meltwater and groundwater after heavy rainfall around Christmas, is slowly returning to normal, with evacuated residents able to return to their homes.
- Saxony-Anhalt, directly bordering Thuringia, has also faced challenges with bad weather during the festive season, leading to heavy rainfall and floods in some regions.
- Matthias Marquardt, the Mayor of Windehausen, is concerned about a transformer station in Auleben, which is threatened by water backing up from the Kelbra reservoir, potentially causing power failures for the entire Goldene Aue.
- During this period of abnormal weather conditions, the all-clear has not yet been given in Mönchpfiffel-Nikolausrieth, with local authorities maintaining a constant watch over the water levels and monitoring any potential threats.
- In response to the excessive rainfall in December, which resulted in over 55% more precipitation compared to the reference period in Thuringia, the German Weather Service issued a flood alert for the southern Harz region.
Source: www.stern.de
