Screenshot of a video from the German Weather Service with severe weather warnings, as of Wednesday, 10:52 a.m.
Around 11:00 a.m.: The flood reporting service of the State Environment Agency of Rhineland-Palatinate calls out the second highest warning level.
11:17 a.m.: The State Environment Agency issues the second highest warning level (red, “high risk of flooding”) via the Katwarn app. It warns the population and other authorities of “rapidly rising water levels”.
2.30 p.m.: The water level at the Altenahr gauge has already risen to 1.38 meters. Normally it is well under a meter.
2:34 p.m.: The Ahrweiler district administration warns the population via the Katwarn app that “flooding is to be expected locally”. “If there is a risk of flooding, one should not go into the basement or underground car park”.
3:26 p.m.: The State Environment Agency predicts that a menacing high could be reached during this flood: 5.19 meters at the Altenahr gauge. The highest level in the past two decades was measured there in 2016 at 3.71 meters.