While it In Germany so far only minor floods The flood situation in several neighboring countries has already worsened.
There has been a first fatality in Poland. “We have the first confirmed death by drowning here, in the Klodzko district,” said Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who attended a meeting of the task force there. He did not provide any further details. Tusk repeated his appeal to the population, to take the authorities’ calls for evacuation seriously and get to safety in time. “The situation is dramatic in many places.”
The Lower Silesian town of Klodzko with 26,000 inhabitants is located one hundred kilometers south of Wroclaw) on the Glatzer Neisse, a tributary of the Oder. The situation there escalated during the night. On Sunday morning, the water level of the Glatzer Neisse was 6.65 meters. An average water level of one meter is usual, a spokesman for the local fire department told the German Press Agency.
Prime Minister Tusk said that in the Klodzko district 1,600 people were brought to safety. He expects further evacuations. Air Force helicopters are on their way to Wroclaw, and rescue helicopters are also in use. In parts of the flooded areas, the power supply has been cut off, and in some places there are problems with mobs.
To several places in Poland More rain has already fallen than during the so-called millennium flood in 1997, said Tusk.
Evacuations also expanded in the Czech Republic
In the In the Kłodzko Mountains on Poland’s border with the Czech Republic, the situation at a dam was critical“The dam in Miedzygorze is overflowing. Although water has been released, it has reached its maximum level! The water inflow is huge,” wrote the Lower Silesian municipality of Bystryca Klodzka on X. Residents of lower-lying villages have been evacuated, according to the water management authority.
Due to the threat of flooding, Evacuations in the Czech Republic have also been expandedIn Opava on the border with Poland, Thousands of people safe authorities announced on Saturday evening. Hundreds of people in other parts of the region also had to leave their homes.
A reservoir in Lower Austria threatens to overflow
Due to severe storms, the The entire state of Lower Austria has been declared a disaster area“Up to 50 millimeters of further rainfall is forecast in the next few hours,” the Austrian news agency APA quoted Deputy Governor Stephan Pernkopf as saying on Sunday morning. Due to the persistent rainfall, “massive flooding is already occurring and will continue to occur throughout the country,” Pernkopf added.
Lower Austria is the region of the Alpine country worst affected by the current storms. Around 1.72 million people live in the state that surrounds the capital Vienna. During the night, there were almost 4,500 fire service operations, and some evacuations were necessary. According to APA, many towns were no longer accessible by land.
In eastern Austria, train traffic was interrupted on the route between Amstetten and St. Valentinas the state railway company ÖBB announced. The route is part of the rail connection between Vienna and Germany. In the Austrian capital, several subway lines near the Vienna River were closed, as APA reported.
Pernkopf spoke of the “magnitude of a 100-year flood event.” What this means is that, on average over the long term, such conditions only occur once every 100 years.
© IMAGO/Bernd March/IMAGO/Bernd March
The Ottenstein am Kamp reservoir is in danger of overflowing. According to Chancellor Karl Nehammer, the situation is escalating. The military is ready to provide support.
Flooding is expected on the Danube in Austria, the likes of which only occur once every 30 years on average. The water levels are expected to peak on Monday night.
It continues to rain in parts of Germany
In Germany there are after storms with Heavy rainfall caused minor flooding in southeast Bavaria. According to the German Weather Service, the rainfall on the edge of the Alps is expected to ease by Sunday morning. The police in Rosenheim said late on Saturday evening that they were not aware of any major operations related to the weather. In isolated cases, streams had overflowed their banks and streets had been flooded.
Meteorologists said of the outlook: “From Sunday afternoon in Saxony and parts of Bavaria from the east, there will be renewed, prolonged rainfall.” In East Saxony, rainfall amounts of between 30 and 50 litres per square metre are expected between Sunday and Monday noon.
There and in Brandenburg According to authorities, the rainfall in the Czech Republic and Poland could also lead to flooding. “If the high levels of rainfall predicted continue, a flood wave is likely to form on Sunday to Monday on the Lusatian Neisse and from the middle of next week on the Oder and Elbe,” said a spokeswoman for the Brandenburg Ministry of the Environment.
Bridge debris removed from the Elbe
The Saxon state capital Dresden expects that the Elbe has a water level of four meters in the morning and therefore alarm level 1 applies. The normal water level is around two meters. In the coming week, the highest alarm level 4 could even apply. The authorities have not ruled out that the seven meters could be exceeded.
Under high pressure, the Rubble from the partially collapsed Carola Bridge over the Elbe in Dresden cleared awayOn Saturday evening, the first major demolition work on the part of the bridge on the bank to Neustadt was completed. The city wanted to prevent water from accumulating on the rubble and thus causing additional flooding. (dpa)
