Road safety - Drivers ignore road closures despite flooding
Over the past few days, several drivers have ignored road closures due to the flooding and triggered fire department operations. On several occasions, vehicles had to be rescued because drivers ignored barriers, according to the emergency services. People also got in the way of the emergency services in other ways. This creates extra work for the emergency services and can sometimes be expensive for those responsible.
On Wednesday night, a man got his car stuck in the floodwaters of the River Leine in Neustadt am Rübenberge, north of Hanover. He had ignored road closures, according to the volunteer fire department. Instead of looking after his vehicle, he simply left it there - and emergency services initially feared that he might be missing in the floodwater. A drone and a police helicopter with thermal imaging cameras were used to search for the man. The police later picked him up. The car was pulled out of the river using a special vehicle.
A little later, on Wednesday morning, a 56-year-old driver got into a similar situation north of Meppen on the River Ems. He drove around warning beacons and traffic signs blocking a road in Haren, according to the police. He then got stuck with his car in a dip. The fire department rescued the driver and his two passengers, aged 20 and 30, from the situation. They also pulled the "almost floating vehicle" out of the water.
South of Meppen in Geeste, a tractor driver got stuck in the Ems on Wednesday afternoon. He had also ignored a road closure in order to pick up hay bales from a field and deliver a newspaper to a neighbor, according to the local fire chief. Firefighters rescued the man and his dog with a boat. The tractor was left in the water as a rescue would have been too dangerous.
The police pointed out that drivers should respect road closures. This was of crucial importance. There were considerable dangers in the affected areas. "If people cause a dangerous situation themselves, they can be held liable for the costs of the operation," explained a spokesperson for Hanover police.
Such operations are also a nuisance for the firefighters, who are already working at full capacity. Commenting on the incident in Neustadt am Rübenberge, the volunteer fire department said: "The whole operation was all the more annoying for the volunteer firefighters as most of them had already been working on the flood operation all day anyway and in many cases hardly got to see their families on Christmas Day." Firefighters had already rescued a family there on Christmas Eve from a vehicle that had broken down on the line.
Emergency services were also disturbed in other ways. The city of Oldenburg, for example, asked people not to fly drones and kites over bodies of water. According to reports, a hang glider disturbed a drone operation by the fire department on Wednesday morning. As a result, the emergency services were only able to get a picture of the situation after a delay. In the Harz Mountains, the operator of the reservoirs called on people not to travel to the reservoirs due to the tense flood situation there.
Police report Emsland
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- The water level in some areas was so high that the fire department's operational force had to be on high alert, especially during bad weather.
- Despite the warnings and road closures, some drivers continued to ignore the safety measures, putting themselves and the volunteer fire department in potential danger during emergencies.
- In Lower Saxony, a volunteer fire department reported several instances of cars getting stuck in floodwaters due to disregard for road closures during flood situations.
- The police in Hanover emphasized the importance of respecting traffic regulations during emergencies, stressing that ignoring road closures could result in costly penalties for drivers.
- In Neustadt am Rübenberge, a city north of Hanover, a situation arose where a car had to be rescued from the flooded River Leine—all because of the negligence of a driver who disregarded road closures.
- Furthermore, in a separate incident, a 56-year-old driver and his passengers had to be rescued from a nearly submerged vehicle near Meppen on the River Ems after disregarding traffic signs and road closures.
- Road closures are crucial for traffic safety during floods, as they protect both drivers and emergency services personnel from hazardous situations.
- In some cases, incidents disrupted the efforts of emergency services, such as when a hang glider disturbed a drone operation by the fire department in Oldenburg.
- The fire department in Meppen, Ems, warned that driving through closed roads during flooding poses a significant risk to the safety of both drivers and personnel, urging extreme caution and compliance with road safety measures in affected areas.
Source: www.stern.de
