Persistent rain and increasing water levels prompt emergency declarations in Bavarian regions.
The district of Augsburg in Swabia declared a state of emergency on Saturday morning, setting up a live ticker as a pond and reservoir overflowed, leading to mud covering the banks and streets being flooded. Residents of Fischach, Gessertshausen, and Langenneufnach were urged to leave areas affected by the flooding and avoid going to cellars and basements by the district administration. At noon, the district of Anhausen in Diedorf had to be evacuated due to a dam break.
A spokesperson for the district administration notified the media that people had to be rescued from their flooded homes using helicopters. The Prime Minister of Bavaria, Markus Söder, along with Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (both from the CSU party), were expected in Diedorf later in the afternoon.
The districts of Aichach-Friedberg, Neu-Ulm, Pfaffenhofen, and Donau-Ries declared a state of emergency on Saturday as well; Günzburg had already done so on Friday evening. The administration of Aichach-Friedberg mentioned that doing so would allow for better coordination and provision of aid.
The Technical Relief Organization (THW) stated that it had mobilized 400 individuals in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg to combat the floods. There were rail traffic disruptions in both regions - no trains were running on the Munich-Bregenz-Zurich and Stuttgart-Ulm-Augsburg-Munich routes, as announced by Deutsche Bahn.
A group of 26 people attempted to climb the Zugspitze in the mountains amidst heavy snowfall, as reported by the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation, citing the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Mountain Rescue Service. The group became stranded below the Zugspitze, and multiple teams from the Mountain Rescue Service were deployed to assist them.
Floods of significant size developed overnight in the eastern region of Baden-Württemberg, with the State Environmental Agency warning of possible 50- to 100-year floods in the Oberschwaben area and at eastern Neckar tributaries. Flooding was also possible in the Danube and Lake Constance tributaries.
In the evening, Meckenbeuren's municipality in the Bodenseekreis advised around 1300 people to leave their homes and apartments due to the danger of flooding.
The German Weather Service (DWD) cautioned the public in the afternoon of potential thunderstorms and persistent rain across southern Germany and heavy thunderstorms with heavy rain in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt later in the day.
In Switzerland, the heavy rainfall in the east and the interior of the country caused numerous floods, reported the Swiss News Agency SDA. The flood situation there remained tense, and rain showers were projected to continue on Sunday.
