EAccording to initial estimates, a severe storm surge with record water levels caused three-digit million euros in damage on the coast of Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Clean-up work began on Saturday in the affected cities and communities from Flensburg to Lübeck and Rügen.
Numerous people had to leave their homes due to flooding. In several places, dikes broke or were flooded. A woman on Fehmarn died in the storm on Friday. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania escaped with lower water levels and less damage. On Saturday morning, water levels dropped significantly everywhere as the storm subsided.
Flensburg experienced a once-in-a-century flood, where the water level reached 2.27 meters above normal during the night, according to the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH). 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.
Futile fight against the water
The wife of the owner of the Mc Nelson pub in Flensburg said on Saturday that she was still completely shocked. Unfortunately the water ran into the basement. They would have sealed all the doors and windows. “We really thought about it so much, but what we didn’t think about was that it was coming out of some holes in the walls.”
An employee at another harborside restaurant said they fought until 7 p.m. “Then we had to get out.” The water was up to her stomach.
The Rendsburg-Eckernförde district triggered a disaster alarm on Friday evening. In Eckernförde the maximum value was around 2.1 meters above normal.
In the old town of Eckernförde, the authorities offered voluntary evacuations, but according to District Administrator Rolf-Oliver Schwemmer, hardly any use was made of this. “We cannot pump against the Baltic Sea,” said deputy city fire chief Alexander Rüß. In other places such as Brodersby and Arnis, relief workers also brought residents to safety, a total of more than 2,000 people.
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.
Habeck and Günther would like to thank more than 2,000 emergency services
The fire brigade, rescue services, police and the Technical Relief Agency (THW) were deployed with a large number of forces. 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 on Saturday. “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. “We are very happy about how few people were hurt.”
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