Dams full, dikes fragile - Flood situation remains tense - Dresden declares alert level three
Hundreds of people had to leave their homes and apartments over the Christmas holidays due to flooding - and swelling watercourses and overflowing reservoirs could force others to flee. The situation will remain tense over the next few days, warned the authorities in Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, among others, on Tuesday. The weather forecast offers some hope: According to the forecast of the German Weather Service (DWD), there should be some rain in the northwest on Wednesday, but otherwise it should remain dry with some major clearing in places.
Alert level three in Dresden
Dresden has declared a level 3 alert for the Elbe due to the flooding. On Wednesday morning between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., the guideline value of alert level 2 was expected to be exceeded at the Dresden-Augustusbrücke gauge, the city announced on Tuesday evening. The Dresden Environmental Agency had therefore decided to declare an alert level 3 for the Elbe in Dresden on Tuesday evening. This was justified as, according to the forecasts, the guideline value for alert level 3 had definitely been reached and a further rise was to be expected.
After days of continuous rain, the flood situation in many regions of Germany had worsened over the holidays. In Saxony-Anhalt, around 180 residents of the village of Thürungen were urged on Tuesday to seek safety due to the threat of flooding at the Kelbra reservoir and the Helme river. In other places in the region, residents were told to prepare for possible evacuations. The extent of possible flooding is difficult to predict, according to a spokeswoman for the Mansfeld-Südharz district.
Hundreds of people in Rinteln in Lower Saxony and Windehausen in Thuringia also had to leave their houses and apartments due to flooding over the Christmas holidays. As here, rivers bursting their banks in other federal states transformed the surrounding area into extensive water landscapes.
Flood warning in Windehausen
In Windehausen, Thuringia, the situation had eased considerably on Tuesday, according to a police spokesperson early on Wednesday morning. The water levels in Thuringia had largely receded. Soaked dams broke in Northeim in southern Lower Saxony and Uplengen in the Leer district. Helpers were in constant action to secure the damaged bulwarks with sandbags.
While the situation began to ease regionally as the rainfall subsided, the most critical situation was yet to come in other areas. For example, the highest water levels of a flood wave on the Elbe were not expected until Wednesday. This was due to the melting snow and heavy rainfall in the Giant Mountains, it was said.
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- Authorities in Germany, including Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, anticipate a tense flood situation due to swelling watercourses and overflowing reservoirs.
- Dresden, specifically, has declared an alert level three due to the flooding on the Elbe river, as per the DWD's forecast of exceeding the alert level 2 guideline value.
- The Flood situation in Germany, including regions like Saxony-Anhalt, has worsened after days of continuous rain, with residents urged to flee from places like Thürungen due to potential flooding.
- Apart from Saxony-Anhalt, Lower Saxony and Windehausen in Thuringia also experienced flooding, forcing hundreds of people to leave their homes.
- In Windehausen, the flood warning was lifted on Tuesday morning, but dams in Northeim and Uplengen in Lower Saxony were reported to have broken, requiring immediate action from helpers to secure damaged bulwarks with sandbags.
- The critical flood situation on the Elbe river is yet to come, with the highest water levels expected on Wednesday due to melting snow and heavy rainfall in the Giant Mountains.
- German Weather Service (DWD) forecasts rain in the northwest on Wednesday, while it should remain dry with some major clearing in places, offering some hope for a temporary reprieve from the bad weather.
- Lower Saxony Police and Environmental Agency are closely monitoring the flood situation and have issued warnings as necessary, advising residents in at-risk areas to prepare for possible evacuations.
- Despite these measures, the intensity of the flooding is challenging to predict, underlining the need for continued vigilance and coordination from various government forces and responders, such as the fire department, to mitigate further damage.
Source: www.stern.de
