As of: October 21, 2023 3:40 p.m
A powerful storm pushed the Baltic Sea water ashore on Saturday night and caused flooding in Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg had the highest storm surge in 100 years. The emergency services had their hands full. There was one fatality on Fehmarn. The clean-up work is underway.
Dike breaches, evacuations, full basements, flooded streets, branches on cars and tracks – the announced storm surge hit Schleswig-Holstein’s Baltic Sea coast with full force. It was a long night for some coastal residents and many emergency services. By early morning, the fire brigades in the country had counted more than 1,500 missions. In the Schleswig-Flensburg district alone, a total of 700 firefighters were on duty on Friday evening. According to the control centers, the situation on the Baltic Sea coast calmed down during the night. Water levels are falling again in many regions. During the morning the water levels fell below the critical mark of one meter above normal.
Flensburg’s Mayor Geyer: Today it’s time to clean up
In the morning there were a few people at the Flensburg harbor looking at the effects of the flood in their city. Many restaurants near the harbor are flooded and are being pumped out. In the next few hours there will be mainly clean-up work. In addition to the THW, Flensburg receives support from six fire engines from Plön and four from Neumünster. Flensburg’s mayor Fabian Geyer spoke this morning of “extreme flooding”. But the worst is over: “Today we’ll have to clean up.”
Water level for the Baltic Sea coast
In Flensburg this morning, according to data from the Waterways and Shipping Administration, the water level was still 1.63 meters above normal at 6 a.m. and was only 1.06 meters above normal at 10:33 a.m. During the night the water level rose to unexpected heights: 2.27 meters above the average water level – the highest value in Flensburg for more than 100 years. In advance, only water levels of up to two meters above the mean water level were expected. In Eckernförde the water level was 1.57 meters above normal at 6 a.m., four hours later it was 1.03 meters. The peak during the night was around 2.10 meters. A storm surge warning remains in effect for the entire Baltic Sea coast until the morning.
These are the current water levels as of 10:38 a.m. The source is the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSV).
- Flensburg: 1.06 meters
- Langballigau (Schleswig-Flensburg district): “Gauge currently out of service.”
- Kalkgrund lighthouse: 1.05 meters
- Kappeln (Schleswig-Flensburg district): “Gauge currently out of service.”
- Schimmelünde (Schleswig-Flensburg district): 1.37 meters
- Schleswig (Schleswig-Flensburg district): “Gauge currently out of service.”
- Eckernförde: 1.04 meters
- Kiel lighthouse: 1.41 meters
- Kiel-Holtenau: 1.00 meters
- Heiligenhafen (Ostholstein district): 0.98 meters
- Marienleuchte on Fehmarn (Ostholstein district): 0.89 meters
- Neustadt (Ostholstein district): 0.92 meters
Disaster protection: high losses worth millions
There were major problems in the districts of Rendsburg-Eckernförde, Schleswig-Flensburg as well as in the cities of Flensburg and Kiel, as the Interior Ministry in Kiel announced this morning. There were a total of three dike breaches in the Schleswig-Flensburg district. Dikes were damaged in several places in the country – including in Maasholm on the Schlei. In Ostholstein, several beach walls were broken by the floods and dikes were damaged. In Schleswig the harbor was flooded and the electricity was cut off. For safety reasons, the municipal utilities in Flensburg also switched off the electricity in areas affected by the flood.
The extent of the destruction caused by the Baltic Sea storm surge became visible over the course of the day. The head of the disaster control department at the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of the Interior expects flood damage to be in the three-digit million range. “With the first light of day you will be able to see the damage more clearly,” said Ralf Kirchhoff. He assumes that the damage to flood protection systems or buildings will sometimes be significant.
Boat builder Hansen from Schleswig: “It’s a complete catastrophe”
However, only when the water has drained can experts begin to record the damage in detail. In addition to dikes and flood protection systems, port facilities, bank reinforcements and buildings are also affected. “There are jetties broken here. Boats are broken and some have even sunk. There has been a significant loss of sand in the beach area. Based on my initial assessment, I assume that we need help from the state,” said Heiligenhafen’s mayor Kuno Brandt (independent) on Saturday.
Boat builder Björn Hansen was horrified when he saw the extent of the damage in the port of Schleswig that morning. “It’s a complete catastrophe. I don’t know how many ships have sunk. There are masts sticking out everywhere. Boats where you can look left and right, everything on land. Everything has fallen apart here. It’s really just chaos,” he said Hansen.
Cleanup at Damp Harbor could take months
There was also a picture of destruction in Damp am Hafen. According to our NDR reporter Cassandra Arden, around 20 yachts are totally broken. Either because they sank or because they crashed into each other. Around a dozen were washed onto the promenade by the flood – and they are now on dry land. In the harbor basin itself, wooden planks are floating because some jetties are broken. An official from the water protection police told NDR Schleswig-Holstein that the port almost no longer exists. He believes that cleaning up the Damp harbor will certainly take months.
Evacuations: 2,000 people affected in Schleswig-Holstein
Some flood areas were evacuated. According to disaster control estimates, around 2,000 people are affected – including in places like Eckernförde, Schleswig and Brodersby. In Maasholm at the mouth of the slime alone, around 400 people had to leave their homes. A dike broke there in the evening. In the old town of Eckernförde there were voluntary evacuations of residents from parts of the old town. The south school center in Eckernförde was set up as emergency accommodation. The Rendsburg-Eckernförde district triggered a disaster alarm in the evening. This was lifted again on Saturday afternoon.
Fehmarn: One fatality due to a falling tree
On the island of Fehmarn, a 33-year-old woman died on the district road between Burg and Puttgarden on Friday afternoon. Any help came too late for the seriously injured person, said Mayor Jörg Weber. Otherwise, according to the police and fire department, the night went smoothly – there were no injuries. In Lübeck there are still numerous road closures in Travemünde and on the old town island – due to flooding. The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) assumes that residents will return to their houses and apartments with dry feet in the morning. At the moment, emergency services are still pumping out water in the historic salt reservoirs. Otherwise, according to the fire department, the night in the Hanseatic city was relatively quiet. In Heiligenhafen there was a temporary power outage because the power boxes were under water and in Heringsdorf in the Ostholstein district, a campsite and a holiday home complex had to be evacuated due to flooding.
Tens of thousands of sandbags against the water
Relief workers distributed tens of thousands of sandbags – but the fire brigades were often deployed to pump out cellars and remove broken trees. In many places on Friday the water level was between 1.70 and 2 meters above the average water level. In Arnis in the Schleswig-Flensburg district, firefighters had to abandon a section of the dike because it was in danger of breaking. The same applied to the dike in the fishing village of Maasholm. In Kappeln there was a dike breach over a stretch of 40 meters.
In an interview with NDR Schleswig-Holstein, Schleswig-Flensburg’s district administrator Wolfgang Buschmann (independent) was impressed by the “huge willingness to help” in Arnis. The Schleswig-Flensburg district has so far distributed around 30,000 sandbags in all communities. According to the company, an additional 40,000 are available if necessary.
Impact on ferry traffic
Due to the extremely low water in the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea, ferry connections to the islands and Halligen are still affected this morning. Neue Pellwormer Dampfschiffahrts GmbH announced that connections from Pellworm would be canceled at 9:45 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. Departures at 10.40 a.m. and 12.40 p.m. from Nordstrand are also affected. An extra ferry leaves from Pellworm at 3:45 p.m. and from Nordstrand at 4:40 p.m. All other connections should run according to the timetable. The Wyker Dampfschiffs-Reederei announced in the morning that there could be changes to the timetable on the Föhr-Amrum line and on the Hallig line.
Rail traffic: Trains are running again – but late
Rail travelers across the country must continue to expect delays. On Friday evening at 8 p.m., rail traffic was stopped on some routes. According to Deutsche Bahn, train traffic in Schleswig-Holstein is now returning to normal. Trains are also running again on the lines RB75 between Rendsburg and Kiel and RB72/73 between Eckernförde and Kiel – these were initially stopped on Saturday morning. According to Deutsche Bahn, passengers can expect up to 45 minutes more travel time. The railway advises you to find out more online before traveling.
Günther thanks helpers
Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Günther thanked all storm surge helpers on Friday. According to the CDU politician, we are very well positioned as a state and the state government has also set up a crisis team. Bundestag Vice President Wolfgang Kubicki (FDP) expressed his condolences to the affected people in Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Friday in Berlin. Schleswig-Holstein’s state parliament president Kristina Herbst said on Saturday morning about the dramatic consequences of the storm surge and the damage to infrastructure and residential buildings: “Behind these numbers there are many individual fates. Those affected themselves, the people on the Baltic Sea, the municipalities, the state and the federal government – everyone We are now equally required to repair the dramatic damage caused by this storm surge as quickly as possible.”
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