Live blog
Status: 07/18/2021 1:35 a.m.
The district of Berchtesgadener Land has declared a disaster due to flooding. At least one person was killed. There were also floods in East Saxony. The events in the live blog.
- Disaster declared in Upper Bavaria
- Railway line in Saxon Switzerland closed
- Scholz announces emergency aid for flood victims of more than 300 million euros
1:29 am
At least one fatality from floods in the Upper Bavarian district
A person died in Berchtesgaden as a result of the flood. This was confirmed by a spokeswoman for the Berchtesgadener Land district office BR. In the case of another death in Bischofswiesen, the direct connection has not yet been established.
01:02 am
Karliczek wants to expand research on extreme weather phenomena
After the flood disaster, Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek is calling for research to improve precautions against such extreme weather conditions. “As a lesson from the severe weather catastrophe in western Germany, research on such extreme weather events must be expanded in the next few years,” said the CDU politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group. “The aim must be to improve forecasting and precaution.”
The minister warned that the trend towards the increasing number and intensity of extreme weather events would also continue suddenly as a result of climate change. “On average, these events of extreme precipitation, heat or storms have almost doubled over the past thirty years.” It is a matter of predicting extreme weather in the regions even more precisely and, based on this, creating risk plans for floods and heat. “The aim must be to take more precautions, even in smaller communities, in order to be able to act quickly and effectively in an emergency.”
Corresponding initiatives have already been started with funding from the Federal Ministry of Research. Currently, around 65 million euros flow into basic and application-oriented research on climate impacts and adaptations every year. “After the disaster in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, we should think about stepping up the initiatives in the federal and state governments.”
12:44 am
Two dead in the flood area in Upper Bavaria
Two people died in the flood area in Upper Bavaria. But it is still unclear whether their death is related to the flood, said the spokeswoman for the Berchtesgadener Land district office, Alexandra Rothenbuchner. Individual houses had to be evacuated because of the storm, she said. But currently nobody is locked in his house.
12:38 am
Altmaier wants to relieve companies with a corona flood flat rate of 10,000 euros
Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier (CDU) wants to give companies a lump sum of 10,000 euros that were hit twice by the corona crisis and the flood disaster. “I advocate a corona flood lump sum of up to 10,000 euros for companies that have been hit twice as badly,” said Altmaier of “Bild am Sonntag”. “But I also expect insurance companies to pay out the damage sums quickly now and to show the greatest possible goodwill to companies hit by business partners.”
12:37 am
Railway line in Saxon Switzerland closed
After heavy rainfall, the railway line between Bad Schandau and the Czech Decin (Tetschen) has been closed. “Long-distance trains end and begin in Dresden Hauptbahnhof,” says a statement from Deutsche Bahn. In long-distance traffic it concerns the connection Hamburg-Berlin-Dresden-Prague. There were also failures in local traffic, replacement traffic by buses could not be set up due to difficult road conditions, it said.
12:34 am
Scholz announces emergency aid for flood victims of more than 300 million euros
Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) has announced emergency aid of more than 300 million euros for the victims of the flood disaster. On Wednesday he wanted to submit the plan for emergency aid to the federal cabinet, said Scholz of “Bild am Sonntag”. During the previous flood disaster, emergency aid from the federal government of “well over 300 million euros” was necessary: ”So much is surely needed again now.”
Scholz also wants to propose to the cabinet on Wednesday a multi-billion dollar development program for the affected regions in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. The destroyed houses, roads and bridges should be repaired quickly. “As we know from the previous catastrophe, billions of euros are involved,” said the finance minister. “It takes a national show of strength,” emphasized Scholz. The damage is immense. “Anyone who has lost their business or their house cannot bear the damage alone. We now have to stand together as a country and help the flood victims quickly, generously and unbureaucratically,” emphasized the minister.
According to Scholz, the emergency aid from the federal government is to be paid out via the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best to decide on site who needs support most urgently. According to the minister, the first emergency aid to those affected should still flow in July. The construction aid needs a little more time: “But everything should be in place this year.” According to Scholz, the federal government does not have to take out new loans for the flood aid: “We can do what is now necessary with the funds that are now available to us.” Experience has shown that the funds for the reconstruction would be required gradually in the coming years, “we will do that”. According to the finance minister, the federal government wants to accommodate the flood victims with tax relief: “Payments are deferred, there are also special depreciation regulations.”
00:04 am
Torrential tide rushes through Hallein in Austria
After torrential rains, parts of the old town of Hallein near Salzburg were flooded in Austria. A stream had developed into a raging stream in the evening, the police confirmed according to videos that could be seen on the Internet. According to the fire brigade, there were no reports of missing, injured or even dead people late in the evening. People who were locked in their houses were rescued with the help of boats or trucks, said state fire brigade commander Günter Trinker. According to the authorities, the water partially drained away in the late evening. Nevertheless, the situation in the 22,000-inhabitant city remains tense in view of possible new rains.
July 17, 2021 • 11:38 pm
Dutch people do not open locks for flooded German places
The Dutch authorities have rejected the request of the mayor of Wassenberg in North Rhine-Westphalia to open the Rur locks in Roermond. The Dutch dike association sees no connection between a dam breach on the Rur, because of which 700 people in Wassenberg had to leave their homes, and the closing of the locks on the Dutch side, reported the Dutch news agency ANP on Saturday evening.
Mayor Marcel Maurer named the closing of the locks in Roermond as the cause of the dam break in the Ophoven district on Friday evening. This led to a backwater and increased the pressure on the German dike. He had asked the Dutch authorities to reopen the locks. According to calculations by the Dutch dike association Limburg, one thing has nothing to do with the other. The Rur lock in Roermond is always closed at high tide to prevent the city from being flooded by masses of water pushing from the Meuse into the Rur. The water from the Rur is then always channeled into the Meuse via a tributary of the Rur, the Hambeek. This means that there is normal water drainage in the Rur without any adverse effects on the German side.
July 17, 2021 • 11:32 pm
Disaster declared in Upper Bavaria
The district of Berchtesgadener Land has declared a disaster due to flooding. There are a lot of mudslides, the fire brigade is overloaded, said a spokesman for the integrated control center in Traunstein late in the evening. The population is called upon to leave basements and avoid the streets, as a lot of water shoots over them.
The fire brigade has been in constant use since Saturday evening. The situation is dramatic, said the spokesman. The places Berchtesgaden and Bischofswiesen in the extreme southeast of Bavaria are particularly affected. There the water shoots out of the mountains, at the same time the water levels of the river Ache rose. Individual houses have already been cleared due to slipping slopes. The district is coordinating the operation with immediate effect.
“There are always emergency calls coming in,” said a police spokesman in Rosenheim. In the district of Berchtesgadener Land, all fire departments are required. “The situation is confusing,” said the spokesman. “It’s raining heavily.”
Initially, the fire brigade in Reit im Winkl in the neighboring district of Traunstein was challenged. There the situation calmed down in the course of the evening. The media reported record water levels on the Ache – by 10 p.m. they were already around 3.75 meters. Pictures show torrential floods in the streets. People stand knee-deep in the water.
Sven Plöger, HR, with information on the floods in Berchtesgaden
Daily topics 11:15 p.m., July 18, 2021
July 17, 2021 • 11:27 pm
Floods also in Saxon Switzerland
Heavy rainfall has led to flooding in Saxon Switzerland. The district office of Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains announces that individual locations are no longer accessible. Neustadt, Sebnitz, Bad Schandau, Reinhardtsdorf-Schöna and Gohrisch are particularly affected. The authority called on the population not to enter cellars, underground garages and underpasses. The water level rises are comparable and sometimes even stronger than in August 2010.