The water levels are rising: Flood warnings for many parts of Germany

Heavy rain - The water levels are rising: Flood warnings for many parts of Germany

Rivers swell, dykes soften: After days of continuous rain, many regions in Germany are threatened with flooding. The German Weather Service (DWD) warned of the risk of flooding on many rivers and streams on Christmas Eve. The rainfall is likely to continue until Monday, especially in the north-western and western slopes of many low mountain ranges, and in some regions 100 to 150 liters of rain per square meter could fall within 48 to 96 hours, in some places even more, the DWD said in Offenbach. The risk of flooding will be exacerbated by heavy thaws, for example in the Erzgebirge.

Third flood warning level in Lower Saxony

In Lower Saxony, 30 water gauges reached the third of four warning levels early on Sunday morning, according to the State Agency for Water Management, Coastal Defence and Nature Conservation. The rivers Weser, Aller, Leine and Oker, among others, exceeded this threshold. At level three, flooding of properties and larger areas as well as roads and cellars is possible.

In Hanover, the fire department was in constant action due to the rain and heavy gusts of wind. A lot of water damage was reported in buildings and trees also had to be removed, the fire department announced on Sunday morning.

In Rodenberg in the district of Schaumburg in Lower Saxony, fire departments and volunteers protected areas with sandbags. The mayor of the joint municipality, Thomas Wolf, reported on Sunday morning that the floodwater was flowing over the weir. Helpers had run from house to house to warn the residents. There had not been a flood like this in the municipality for 25 years.

Warnings also issued for Saxony-Anhalt, Bavaria and NRW

In Saxony-Anhalt, the flood forecasting center issued warnings for the Mulde, Aller and Havel rivers. Alert levels 1 and 2 were exceeded at several measuring points in the state, in some places alert level 3. This level was also reached at several gauges in parts of Saxony - for example in Chemnitz.

In parts of North Rhine-Westphalia, authorities prepared for flooding. In Oberhausen, for example, a softened dyke on the Ruhr caused concern, according to the fire department. In a suburb of Münster on Saturday, the fire department rescued a woman from her car, which had become submerged in the flooded area of the Werse, a tributary of the Ems. In the Ruhr region, the continuous rain caused problems for the railroads: In Herdecke, tracks on the line between Dortmund and Hagen were washed out.

In Bavaria, some districts were under a level 3 flood warning, with some places in the districts of Coburg and Kulmbach even under a level 4 warning. Franconia and eastern Bavaria were particularly affected. Some cellars were already flooded on Sunday night and several roads were closed due to the flooding. Near Heustreu in the Rhön-Grabfeld district, the fire department rescued a 20-year-old woman on Saturday who had driven her car into a blocked flooded road, according to the police.

In parts of Bavaria, strong winds disrupted skiing on Christmas Eve. The Bayerische Zugspitzbahn reported "out of service" on its website for the cable car to Germany's highest mountain. A lift on the Zugspitzplatt was also out of service on Sunday. However, the cog railroad to the Zugspitze, which had not operated on Saturday, was in operation.

On the Alpspitze near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the avalanche commission first had to check the situation and clear the pistes. In many places, there was still considerable avalanche danger above 1500 meters on Sunday.