Continuous rain easing – parts of Germany are under water – News

  • The days of constant rain in Germany are slowly easing. The German weather service has lifted severe weather warnings for several federal states.
  • However, there is still a tense flood situation in various regions, especially in the northern and central parts of the country.
  • In the last seven days, up to 260 liters of rain per square meter fell in certain regions.

The situation is particularly critical in the federal state Lower Saxony. In the city Braunschweig The level of the city river Oker is currently rising after a dam was lowered. The city announced that twice as much water was flowing into the Oker from the overflow of the dam wall as normal. Instead of 16 cubic meters per second, 30 cubic meters per second now flow into the river. The city expected water levels to rise late in the evening. Therefore, several roads near the Oker River were closed.

Intermediate relaxation before further precipitation


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There are signs of a temporary easing of the flood situation in Germany. As the German Weather Service (DWD) announced on Wednesday in Offenbach, it will remain largely dry on Thursday. “At least the amount of precipitation is limited for now, so that the flood situation on some rivers can continue to ease, albeit only slowly,” said meteorologist Adrian Leyser from the weather forecast center.

But the development is unlikely to last. “With due consideration of the uncertainties, it must be stated that the risk of heavier precipitation is increasing significantly again,” said the meteorologist. “Especially in the west and northwest, the weather models indicate a lot of wet weather, which will probably cause river levels to rise quickly again.” The DWD cannot currently say how great the risk of continuous rain and flooding actually is and which regions will be particularly affected.

In the town Rinteln Between Hanover and Bielefeld, residents of a street directly next to the city wall were evacuated on Tuesday morning, as the city administration announced. According to NDR, 108 residents were evacuated. The basements of the buildings on the affected street were full. The fire department is on site with pumps and stacking sandbags.

In various places, including Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, people had to leave their houses at Christmas because the situation was too unsafe or the entire house was under water. So were in Saxony-Anhalt the approximately 180 residents of the town Thuringia Due to the threat of flooding at the full Kelbra reservoir and the Helme, people were asked to seek safety.

In Northern Thuringia According to the emergency services, the flood situation is now stable. However, the town of Windehausen had to be evacuated on Christmas Day. Only 100 of the almost 500 residents are still there, said Matthias Marquardt, mayor of the city of Heringen.

Lower water levels in Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse

In Rhineland-Palatinate and the Saarland With a few exceptions, river flood levels are continually decreasing. A spokesman for the flood reporting service in Mainz said that there could be another increase on New Year’s Day.

The German Weather Service (DWD) does not expect any significant amounts of rain for the New Year’s week. On the Upper Rhine, south of Frankfurt am Main, the highest levels had already been reached on St. Stephen’s Day. On the Middle Rhine between Frankfurt and Cologne, the highest water levels are expected until the evening. The water should then recede there too.

Also in Bavaria and in Hesse the flood situation eases. At the most important measuring points, the highest levels have largely been reached or the water has already flowed through, said the Hessian State Office for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology (HLNUG). The peak is only expected on the Main.

After days of continuous rain, the weather service has now lifted all severe weather warnings. The DWD said the rain had eased or lost intensity.

Storms, snow and floods in the Czech Republic and Slovakia


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Storms and floods in the Czech Republic and Slovakia cut off power to over 20,000 households at Christmas and made several evacuations necessary. The flood situation remained tense on Christmas Day, especially on the Elbe and smaller northern Czech rivers near the borders with Saxony and Poland. In the west of the Czech Republic, on the border with Bavaria, the situation is easing.

In Slovakia, important power lines run through difficult-to-access forest and mountain regions where persistent snowstorms are hampering repair work. In addition, fallen trees are blocking numerous roads and railway connections in both countries.

In Mrakotin u Telce in southern Bohemia, 20 houses had to be evacuated due to an impending dam failure. In other Czech regions, remote houses outside the town centers were also evacuated.

Heavy snowfall, which then turned into rain, as well as a sharp rise in temperature on Sunday led to snowmelt and flooding. In the Slovakian capital Bratislava, streets and parking lots on the Danube and March as well as underpasses in the city center were flooded.

source site-72