storm
Bundeswehr starts flood operation in Saxony-Anhalt
The flooding continues to make things difficult for people – like here in Saxony-Anhalt. There are growing calls for better equipment for emergency services. photo
© Jan Woitas/dpa
The flooding continues to cause hardship for people in many places. In Saxony-Anhalt, the Bundeswehr is now bringing forward the start of its operations due to weakened dikes. After the continuous rain comes icy cold.
The dikes are visibly soaked, so stabilization needs to be done, said the spokeswoman. An application for administrative assistance from the district was originally approved on Thursday, which stipulated that 150 soldiers would help fill and distribute sandbags for a week from January 8th.
Because the Helme River had overflowed its banks, the district declared a disaster on December 30th. According to the information, around 500 helpers coordinated by the district were on duty at the beginning of the year. There are also several hundred civilian volunteers.
Several places along the Helme are threatened by the water masses in the Mansfeld-Südharz district. This flows from Thuringia into the Kelbra dam, then continues through Mansfeld-Südharz and then back to Thuringia.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) came to Sangerhausen on Thursday together with Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) and Saxony-Anhalt’s Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU) to get an idea of the situation on site.
Weather service cancels all severe weather warnings
In addition to the south of Saxony-Anhalt, parts of Lower Saxony are particularly affected by the flood. In Bavaria, the situation in the north and east remains critical. Rising water levels were also reported in Hesse.
After all, the serious, continuous rain should come to an end in many regions of Germany: The German Weather Service canceled all existing severe weather warnings for heavy, continuous rain early on Friday morning. “The precipitation activity in the low mountain ranges has decreased significantly and the warnings for continuous rain have been lifted,” said the meteorologists. And further: “The precipitation expected in the further course will fall partly as rain and partly as snow; as things stand, the intensity no longer makes continuous rain warnings necessary.”
After the continuous rain, a change in the weather is imminent: For large parts of Germany, the DWD predicted freezing temperatures, a risk of black ice and, in some cases, snowfall. For this Saturday, for example, the experts expect “widespread frost at 0 to minus 7 degrees”, for Sunday frost at “minus 2 degrees at the sea, otherwise minus 5 to minus 9 degrees”.
Fire brigade association calls for ten billion “special program”
In view of the continued critical flood situation in several federal states, the fire brigade association is pushing for a ten billion “special program” for security authorities. The President of the German Fire Brigade Association (DFV), Karl-Heinz Banse, justified his demand by saying that there would be more frequent heavy rain and flooding in the future.
DFV President Banse told the daily newspapers of the Funke media group (Friday): “Climate change will mean that Germany will experience more frequent and intense heavy rain and floods in the future. Germany’s security authorities must become crisis-proof.” This requires a special program, similar to the one imposed by the federal government on the Bundeswehr after Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Banse emphasized that “an additional ten billion euros from the federal budget are needed to protect the population.” “This allows us to purchase important equipment for use: sandbag filling machines, pump systems, off-road vehicles.”