After the floods in Saarland and parts of Rhineland-Palatinate, the situation is apparently calming down. Water levels are falling in many places. Drones should help to get an overview of the damage. The clean-up work is underway.
The development of the flood continues to concern rescue workers and the population in Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate. The immense damage is only slowly becoming visible. “The flood situation is still serious, but the situation is clearly easing in many areas,” said the Saarland Ministry of the Interior. For the most part, the water is slowly receding.
Saarbrücken lifts major damage situation
The Saarland state capital Saarbrücken, as the lower disaster control authority, has lifted the major damage situation after the severe floods. The city’s press office announced that the acute rescue and safety measures have been completed and the water levels continue to decline.
The Blies also gave the all-clear. The water level is now falling again, it was said. The old town of Blieskastel is currently being freed of water, and the pumps that failed there are working again, at least with limited performance in emergency operation.
The night was also quiet in the Rhineland-Palatinate district of Trier-Saarburg. The water levels have continued to fall, a spokeswoman for the district told the AFP news agency on Sunday morning. Because of this, the situation center could be closed overnight and the volunteer forces could go home. Now the main thing to do is clean-up work. Drones will also be used in the affected areas today to get an overview of the situation.
The floodwaters on the Moselle continued to rise in the Cochem area during the night. At the moment the level is only slightly rising. The water at the Cochem gauge is currently at 8.16 meters (9:45 a.m.). The first clean-up work should begin in the evening.
Auxiliary staff from Saxony and Thuringia
Meanwhile, emergency services from the Technical Relief Agency (THW) from Saxony and Thuringia were also sent to the flood areas. The main tasks of all THW units are pumping out cellars, underground car parks and stationary pumping stations, feeding emergency services and refueling emergency vehicles.
Floods in Saarland
Constant rain, landslides and a chancellor in rubber boots
Enormous amounts of rain in Saarland on Friday and Saturday night caused flooding, landslides and likely high levels of damage. In the state capital Saarbrücken, the city highway was under water and had to be closed. A coal-fired power plant in Saarland was also flooded, as several media reported. Several people had to be evacuated across the country. In Rußhütte, a district of Saarbrücken, they were brought to safety with amphibious vehicles and boats.
Scholz promises help
There was also flooding in neighboring Rhineland-Palatinate – cellars and streets were full. Many smaller streams and rivers overflowed their banks. Rail traffic also came to a temporary standstill. However, this was able to start rolling again over the course of Saturday. Most of the closed roads were passable again.
On Saturday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Saarland Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger took a look at the situation on site. Wearing rubber boots, the two SPD politicians spoke to those affected, including in Kleinblittersdorf.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser promised help: “The federal government is supporting Saarland in particular with strong forces to protect human lives after the severe floods and to limit the destruction caused by the water masses as much as possible,” she said.