Closures, evacuations: Flood situation remains tense

Storm - Closures, evacuations: Flood situation remains tense

Days of continuous rain posed challenges for residents and emergency services in many regions of Germany over Christmas.

Due to the threat of flooding at the full Kelbra reservoir and the Helme river, the district of Mansfeld-Südharz (Saxony-Anhalt) called on residents of the village of Thürungen to evacuate. "All residents are called upon to leave their homes by 6 p.m. at the latest," a spokeswoman for the district announced in the afternoon. There are around 180 people involved.

They should go to relatives or friends, she said. Emergency accommodation has been set up in Ziegelhüttenstraße in Kelbra. Thürungen belongs to the municipality of Goldene Aue.

After the continuous rainfall over the past few days, the Kelbra reservoir has reached its capacity limit and there is a risk of flooding in the villages along the Helme. According to the district, places in the municipalities of Goldene Aue, Südharz, Sangerhausen and Allstedt are affected. Residents there should also prepare for possible evacuations.

In Windehausen in Thuringia, people already had to leave their houses and apartments on Christmas Day. The town was evacuated on Monday due to the critical flood situation. According to Matthias Marquardt, mayor of the town of Heringen, to which Windehausen belongs, an estimated 100 of the almost 500 inhabitants are still in the village.

A ban on entering Windehausen was imposed in the afternoon. Marquardt said that this was intended to keep the limited access for the emergency services free and disaster tourists away. "The situation is currently still critical, but stable."

Flood wave and evacuations in Lower Saxony

The situation in the district of Goslar in Lower Saxony is less stable. There, the Oker dam in the Harz Mountains has reached its maximum capacity. More water is now being released into the Oker via the overflow of the dam wall, the city administration of Braunschweig announced at midday. Instead of 16 cubic meters per second, 30 cubic meters per second are now flowing into the river. The wave is expected to arrive in the city in the late evening hours. Due to the impending Oker flood, the city of Braunschweig has closed several roads near the river.

In the town of Rinteln in the district of Schaumburg, the residents of a street directly adjacent to the town wall were evacuated this morning, according to the town council. According to NDR, 108 residents were evacuated. The cellars of the buildings in the affected street were flooded. The fire department was on site with pumps and stacking sandbags.

Lower Saxony's Minister-President Stephan Weil (SPD) took a look at the flood situation in the state. During a visit to Northeim, where a dam had burst, he thanked the tens of thousands of helpers for their efforts over the Christmas holidays.

The Lower Saxony State Agency for Water Management, Coastal Defence and Nature Conservation (NLWKN) expects the flood situation to remain tense in the coming days. "The situation is indeed very tense throughout Lower Saxony," said NLWKN Director Anne Rickmeyer. In many parts of the state, rising water levels are also expected in the coming days, Rickmeyer emphasized. "We have flood situations in the major rivers, but of course we also have many small streams swelling all over the country."

The flood situation in North Rhine-Westphalia also remains tense. "We have predominantly rising or constant flood levels," said a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Environment in Düsseldorf. This is putting pressure on the dykes.

Falling water levels in Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse

The water levels on rivers and streams in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, on the other hand, are falling with a few exceptions - and this is likely to remain the case for the next few days. "The trend is downwards," said a spokesperson for the flood reporting service in Mainz. There could possibly be an increase again in the new year. "But that's still a long way off," he said. The German Weather Service was also not expecting large amounts of rain over the next few days. According to the flood forecasting center, the highest levels had already been reached on the Upper Rhine, while the highest levels were expected on the Middle Rhine during the course of the day, after which the water should recede here too.

The flood situation is also tending to ease in Bavaria and Hesse. The Hessian State Agency for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology (HLNUG) announced that, according to the forecasts, the maximum levels had largely been reached or had already passed at the water gauges relevant to the federal state. Only the Main is still expected to peak, but according to current calculations, this will happen at most in the area of reporting level 1.

Storm warnings lifted

Nevertheless, after days of continuous rain, the DWD has lifted all of its severe weather warnings that were temporarily in place for several federal states. The rain had subsided or lost intensity, the DWD announced in Offenbach at midday. "No heavy precipitation is expected for the time being."

wettergefahren.de Cross-state flood portal