- The situation remains threatening in the German flood areas.
- The German Weather Service (DWD) predicts further rainfall.
“There will be a lot of momentum until Saturday, but it will no longer rain in such large quantities,” says meteorologist Christian Herold from the German Weather Service (DWD) in Offenbach. Then tone it down a little. According to Herold, the greatest amounts of rain will be in the north on Friday and Saturday North Rhine-Westphalia expected. The meteorologist expects less precipitation in the north, in the Bremen and Hamburg area.
Legend:
The Serengeti Park in Hodenhagen (Lower Saxony) is also struggling with the masses of water. Over 120 animals had to be evacuated.
SRF
But the situation is still in Lower Saxony tense. Lower Saxony’s Interior Minister Daniela Behrens expects the flood situation to become more severe in some regions. Even in eastern Germany, many fire brigades are still in constant use.
Dikes cannot stop water
At least out Dresden but there is good news. In the Saxon state capital, the Elbe remains below the expected six meter water level. Two meters is normal. The level of the Elbe has been falling again since the night.
Legend:
There is good news in Dresden: the Elbe remains below the expected six meter water level.
SRF
In Lower Saxony, the second largest German state in terms of area, areas along the Weser, but also on various smaller rivers, are under water. Downstream of the Weser, the levels would rise even further, according to a situation report from the State Office for Water Management, Coastal and Nature Conservation (NLWKN). The dikes could no longer withstand the masses of water everywhere on Thursday, and others also threatened to become unstable. Evacuations have been prepared in some places.
Water diverted
Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil said on Thursday that there had never been a flood of this magnitude before. “Experts have long been warning that the increasingly frequent extreme weather events are linked to climate change,” he said.
Also around Bremen there is still no all-clear. According to the authorities on Thursday evening, numerous houses along the Wümme in the Katrepel area are surrounded by water and without electricity. Most of the residents have left this area. In the Timmersloh district the water is at the dikes. Streets and fields are flooded. According to information from the interior authorities, measures to secure the dike have already had to be taken several times.
Legend:
The fire brigade is on duty in the flood areas until late into the night.
SRF
In the North Thuringia A dike on the Helme River was opened in a controlled manner to avert the risk of flooding on the state border between Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt. The Pretzien weir near Magdeburg and Schönebeck in Saxony-Anhalt was opened on Thursday. This means that around a third of the Elbe’s water is directed past the two cities through a flood canal and over meadows and fields before it flows back into the Elbe.