Weather
Flood hotspot: situation in flooded Windehausen stable
A firefighter on a bicycle in a flooded street in Windehausen. photo
© Christoph Reichwein/dpa
Continuous rain has filled rivers and streams in many areas of Germany. Dikes have been weakened and some have broken, and thousands of helpers are on constant duty over Christmas.
Persistent rain and soggy ground continue to pose a risk of flooding in many areas Germany. The German Weather Service (DWD) continues to warn of continuous rain in several regions.
Windehausen (Nordhausen district) in northern Thuringia was particularly badly affected. According to the emergency services, the flood situation in the flooded and largely cleared area is stable. The district of Heringen is still surrounded by flooding, but in some places there has already been a slight decrease in water, said the district fire director for Nordhausen, Daniel Kunze, to the German Press Agency. However, the all-clear cannot yet be given.
Due to the critical situation, Windehausen had to be completely evacuated on Christmas Day. Of the almost 500 residents, an estimated 100 are still in the town, according to Matthias Marquardt, mayor of the town of Heringen, to which Windehausen belongs. All other residents were staying with families, friends and acquaintances. Nobody had to spend the night in the gym provided in Heringen.
Lower Saxony: The situation in the Leer district is easing
According to the fire department, the flood situation in the East Frisian district of Leer has eased somewhat. “The security measures on the dike worked during the night and were successful,” said the Leer district fire department on Facebook. There was no need for evacuations. The water levels fell by around 30 centimeters during the night.
According to the information, dike controls are now being strengthened. But the filling of sandbags had stopped in the morning. According to the fire department, there are initially enough sandbags available with a total of 17 pallets. In the Lower Saxony community of Uplengen, the dike of the Hollener Ehe broke in two places and was also weakened over a length of almost 500 meters, said district fire department spokesman Dominik Janßen. 450 emergency services and hundreds of volunteers were able to stabilize the dike with sandbags.
In the municipality of Hatten in the Oldenburg district, a dike also became unstable. The residents of two streets had to be evacuated, the fire department announced on Tuesday night. It was initially not known how many people were affected. The stability of the dike should be assessed again on Tuesday morning. Until then, the dike should be stabilized with sandbags. A dike breach is still considered unlikely.
The authorities warned of a further worsening of the flood situation in the Oker and Innerste river areas. Since further rain is forecast in the Harz until Tuesday morning, a third wave of flooding is expected in the tributaries to the dams. As a result, the Harz dams would fill up so much that more water would probably have to be drained off and this would then lead to a significant worsening of the flood situation, it said in a statement.
Warning of continuous rain and storm surges
The German Weather Service predicted further continuous rain in several regions, especially from the western low mountain ranges to the Harz, according to a DWD severe weather warning issued late on Monday evening. It will also be stormy in some places. During the night there were expected to be strong, stormy gusts in the northwest, which extended northward during the day. Flooding is expected along streams and rivers. In addition to floods, landslides could also occur. The majority of the country remains under the influence of mild and very humid air masses.
The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) warned of storm surges in the Weser area and on the North Sea coast of Lower Saxony. Specifically, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Elsfleth, Brake and Rechtenfleth on the Weser and Wilhelmshaven on the North Sea were mentioned.
The flood situation continued to be tense in parts of Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia.
Rail traffic on the route between Hanover and Magdeburg is expected to be affected until Wednesday (December 27th). IC trains would be rerouted in both directions and would be delayed by around 30 minutes, Deutsche Bahn announced on its website. The background is therefore track erosion on the route from Magdeburg to Helmstedt.