storm
Major clean-up after storm surge with millions in damages
Dikes near Arnis broke due to the storm surge. photo
© Benjamin Nolte/dpa
The Baltic Sea coast suffered a shock from the severe storm surge. But the hard work is just beginning.
The water has receded again, most of the streets are clear again – the big clean-up is now beginning on the coast. After the heavy one The emergency services still have a lot of work to do due to the record storm surge. The Schleswig-Holstein State Fire Brigade Association explained that the clean-up, repairs and reconstruction work would probably take a long time.
The damage caused by the storm and flooding could not yet be precisely quantified at the weekend. The head of the disaster control staff at the Ministry of the Interior estimated damage in the three-digit million range. Immediately after the flood subsided, clean-up work began on Saturday in the affected cities and communities from Flensburg to Lübeck and Rügen.
Flensburg experienced a flood of the century
Numerous people had to leave their homes due to flooding; in Schleswig-Holstein alone, according to the fire department, there were 2,000. A woman on Fehmarn died in the storm on Friday. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania escaped with lower water levels and less damage. However, a protective wall in Wieck am Darß was damaged in two places over a length of 30 meters. However, early on Saturday evening, a spokeswoman for the Vorpommern-Rügen district announced that the water level in the Bodden was slowly decreasing.
Flensburg experienced a once-in-a-century flood, where, according to the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH), the water level reached 2.27 meters above normal during the night. Parts of the port area were flooded. A similarly high value was last measured in Flensburg in 1904 at 2.23 meters. For safety reasons, the municipal utilities switched off the electricity in the affected areas at the port.
In Ostholstein, several beach walls were broken by the floods and dikes were damaged. Dikes broke near Maasholm and Arnis on the Schlei and south of the Olpenitz harbor, and a dike in Damp could not be maintained either. In Schleswig the harbor was flooded and the electricity was cut off. Pleasure boats sank in some harbors.
According to emergency services, the “high situation” has been overcome
Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Günther thanked the more than 2,000 emergency services. “We are really extremely grateful to everyone who helped during these hours,” said the CDU politician. “Schleswig-Holstein stood together in the face of this terrible flood disaster.”
Günther got an overview of the damage in his hometown of Eckernförde, among other places. According to the rescue control centers, things remained calm in the areas affected by the storm surge on Sunday night. The “high situation” has been overcome, said a spokesman for the Vorpommern-Rügen control center on Sunday morning.