No end to the floods - water levels could still rise

Storm - No end to the floods - water levels could still rise

There is great concern about further rising water levels in the flood areas in Germany. The German Weather Service (DWD) has announced continuous rain until Thursday with large amounts of rain in some areas.

During the night, it should also become stormy in some areas. In Bremen and the particularly affected Lower Saxony, many gauges were still showing the highest of the three flood warning levels on Tuesday evening. Meanwhile, supplies of sandbags for dyke protection are running low in Lower Saxony.

Large amounts of rain expected

Lower Saxony, parts of North Rhine-Westphalia, the south of Saxony-Anhalt and the north of Thuringia are still particularly affected. According to the flood information service of the Bavarian State Office for the Environment, flood level two should be reached in places in eastern Bavaria during the night. In the catchment area of the river Regen in the district of Cham, even level 3 was possible. Some rivers in the district of Bamberg in northern Bavaria are also expected to reach this warning level.

According to the weather service, high amounts of rain are expected in some areas from Lower Saxony to the Black Forest and in the eastern and south-eastern low mountain ranges until Thursday. Meteorologists expect 30 to 50 liters per square meter within 30 to 60 hours, and up to 100 liters in the mountains. In parts of Baden-Württemberg, DWD warnings of heavy continuous rain have been lifted.

The DWD expected stormy gusts for the night into Wednesday. Gale-force winds and heavy squalls were also possible in the north-west and mountains, it said on Tuesday evening. For the East Frisian coasts and exposed peaks, the experts predicted gale-force gusts of up to 120 kilometers per hour, while squalls were also possible on the Baltic Sea.

Compulsory school attendance suspended

In the flood area on the border between Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, compulsory school attendance has been suspended in some places. Schools in Kelbra, Roßla and Wallhausen will remain closed on Thursday and Friday, the district of Mansfeld-Südharz announced on Tuesday evening. Emergency care will be provided. During the night, the Leina river overflowed its banks in the town of the same name in Thuringia.

In Altenglan in Rhineland-Palatinate, a rainwater retention basin could overflow due to the persistent rain. For this reason, an evacuation of the buildings in one street was initially announced on Tuesday evening. However, residents could now stay in their homes for the time being, a fire department spokesman told the German Press Agency at around 10.00 pm. The situation also remained stable for the time being during the night.

In Lower Saxony, the state reserve of around 1.9 million sandbags had been used up on Tuesday, apart from a small remainder, as the State Agency for Water Management, Coastal Defence and Nature Conservation (NLWKN) announced during the night. The federal state is now also drawing on reserves from other federal states. Lower Saxony has now received around 1.5 million bags. The sandbags are being used to reinforce dykes, for example.

According to its president Sabine Lackner, the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) assumes that the challenges for the disaster control organization are generally becoming ever greater. At the moment, the THW is well positioned in terms of civil protection and is able to provide efficient assistance in many places at the same time in the current flood situation, Lackner told the Rheinische Post newspaper. "Nevertheless, the current situation once again dramatically demonstrates that the challenges facing the THW are becoming ever greater, also due to extreme weather events, the massive effects of which we are currently experiencing in various regions of Germany."