Because the Rhine level has exceeded a critical mark, shipping was stopped on many sections on Wednesday. In the rest of BW the situation is easing.
After the Rhine level in Maxau near Karlsruhe exceeded the critical mark of 7.50 meters, shipping was stopped early on Wednesday evening. The Karlsruhe-Maxau branch of the Waterways and Shipping Office officially closed the section between Iffezheim and Germersheim at 5 p.m., meaning that the Karlsruhe Rhine port will no longer be served.
At around 3:30 p.m. the authorities sent an advance notice to all shipmasters that a shipping blockage was to be expected. All ships were informed via radio. Traffic on the Rhine between Rheinfelden (Lörrach district) and Kembs in Alsace had already been stopped on Tuesday. How long the closure will last is still unclear. According to the flood forecast center, the Rhine level is expected to fall again during Thursday.
Flooding on the Rhine: Shipping restricted
If shipping is stopped, ships would have to go to the nearest port and wait there until the flood passes, said Bernd Ertel, first harbor master at the Karlsruhe Rhine port. If possible, ships would also be rerouted.
According to the flood forecast center, the water level in Maxau near Karlsruhe is currently 8.05 meters (as of Thursday, 5 a.m.). The experts expect that the peak has been reached and that the water levels will fall again in the coming hours. However, the flood situation on the region’s Rhine tributaries – the Alb, Murg and Pfinz – is just as relaxed as in the Enz region around Pforzheim.
B31 on Lake Constance was closed after a landslide
Between Sipplingen (Lake Constance district) and Ludwigshafen (Konstanz district) the old B31 was closed in both directions on Wednesday morning after a landslide. Tree root balls landed on the road and a driver drove into them but was uninjured, according to police.
The rains of the past few days had also caused a tense flood situation in other parts of the region. Waters in the south of the country were particularly affected – the southern Black Forest, the Allgäu and the upper Danube.
The Dreisam in Freiburg also carried a lot of water. The water level is now falling significantly again, said the spokesman. This also applies to the Elz in Gutach (Emmendingen district). The flood did not pose any danger to the population. However, roads or cycle paths in the immediate vicinity of the water may have been temporarily closed, said the spokesman.
Houses near Friedrichshafen evacuated
Due to a damaged dam they were in a hamlet nearby Friedrichshafen (Lake Constance district) four houses were evacuated as a precaution. Seven residents were affected, as the city of Friedrichshafen announced.
A breakthrough was discovered in the dam at a private pond on Tuesday. The Federal Agency for Technical Relief pumped out some of the water from the pond – according to estimates, it holds a total of around 40,000 cubic meters. The cause of the damage to the dam was initially unclear; experts suspected beaver burrowing in combination with the heavy rainfall. This made the situation even worse because new water was constantly flowing into the pond.
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