On the Baltic Sea coast, the floodwaters have largely receded after the storm surge, but many beaches, streets and towns are badly damaged. The extent of the storm surprised many.
The force of the storm was not expected and the flooding was significantly faster and higher than expected, according to authorities and politicians after the storm surge on the Baltic Sea coast. Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Günther spoke of “very significant damage” and announced state aid for those affected. Interior Minister Sabine Sütterlin-Waack added that this should happen “quickly and unbureaucratically”. NDR. She added: “The force of the Baltic Sea surprised me.”
The head of the Schleswig-Holstein disaster control team, Dirk Hundertmark, also appeared NDR surprised by the extent of the storm surge: “We experienced that the flood was significantly higher and came much faster than forecast.”
The storm surge raged on the Schleswig-Holstein Baltic Sea coast on Saturday night. Around 2,000 people had to be evacuated, a woman on Fehmarn was killed in her car by a falling tree, and two emergency services were slightly injured, according to the Schleswig-Holstein fire department.
Damage becomes visible after the floodwaters recede
Even if the damage is only becoming apparent gradually, it is already estimated to be in the three-digit million range. In cities like Flensburg, Schleswig and Eckernförde, entire streets were flooded. The electricity was cut off, several dikes broke, numerous boats in harbors sank in the floods or were washed ashore. Over the course of Saturday morning, the water levels fell again – the withdrawal of the water made the destruction fully visible.
The disaster alert was lifted on Saturday. The highest water levels were recorded around midnight: in Flensburg, for example, according to the fire department, the level was almost 2.30 meters above normal – a value that has not been seen there for almost 120 years.
Cleanup work will still take time
The Schleswig-Holstein fire department reported that many places were “hit with full force by the masses of water.” In Maasholm alone, a small town at the mouth of the mucus, 400 people had to be evacuated for safety reasons because a dike burst. The fire department reported around 2,000 storm-related operations across the country. The fire department explained that the cleanup, repairs and reconstruction work would “probably take a long time.”
The mayor of the particularly affected city of Flensburg, Fabian Geyer, spoke on Saturday of “extreme flooding”. But the worst is over: “Today we’ll have to clean up.”
In Flensburg, entire streets were under water on Friday.
Because the water could not yet drain away in some places, according to the police, some streets in Schleswig-Holstein are still closed. Many roads were damaged. According to the police, the extent of the damage can only be estimated once the water has drained away from the streets.
Kiel fire department chief Thomas Hinz was annoyed by the recklessness of some people. “Unfortunately, we often had to deal with so-called flood tourists who went too close to the flood in search of the most spectacular photo.” This triggered several operations.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania gets off lightly
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was less affected by the storm surge than Schleswig-Holstein. According to the state government, in some places the water level briefly rose to around 1.50 meters above normal.
Agriculture Minister Till Backhaus explained that Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was “lucky” compared to Schleswig-Holstein or southern Denmark. Most dikes and flood barriers would have served their purpose. Without the coastal defenses, many areas would have been flooded.
Some coastal regions still suffered damage. The promenade path in Sassnitz on the island of Rügen was largely destroyed by the enormous masses of water. Even massive stone blocks were moved. The path had to be closed and the damage is estimated to be in the millions. In Stahlbrode between Stralsund and Greifswald, the storm surge caused massive damage to the port facilities and the ships lying there.
On the island of Rügen, only rubble remains of the waterfront promenade in Sassnitz.
In Wieck on the Darß, a dam broke on Saturday afternoon and the area behind it was flooded. According to the local fire department, around 75 affected houses were protected with sandbags. At peak times, 85 firefighters were on duty at the Darß at the same time. In the meantime, around 50 emergency services continued the safety work on the dam that had been canceled the day before, said the spokeswoman.
Backhaus and his ministry warned of unstable dunes. In some areas, slopes up to four meters high have formed that now need to be secured. “I appeal to people’s common sense not to stay in such danger areas,” said Backhaus.
In Breege in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the waves washed away the sand on the beach during the storm.
Sweden, Denmark and Great Britain also affected
According to the German Weather Service, the storm and storm surge were triggered by strong differences in air pressure between a low over Western Europe and a pronounced high over Scandinavia. As a result, strong storm winds pushed the water masses from the east to the Baltic Sea coast.
There were also severe weather alarms in Sweden, Denmark and Great Britain. Several ferry connections across the Baltic Sea were temporarily interrupted – for example between Germany and Denmark, Germany and Sweden and Sweden and Poland. 77 flights were canceled at Copenhagen Airport. In England, train services were temporarily disrupted due to squalls and heavy rain.