TA long period of continuous rain posed challenges for residents and emergency services in many regions of Germany over Christmas. In Saxony-Anhalt, the approximately 180 residents of the town of Thürungen were asked to seek safety due to the threat of flooding at the full Kelbra and Helme reservoirs. “All residents are asked to leave their homes by 6 p.m. at the latest,” said a spokeswoman for the Mansfeld-Südharz district. Residents in other places in the region should also prepare for possible evacuations.
In Rinteln, Lower Saxony, residents had already been brought to safety from flooding that morning. In Windehausen, Thuringia, people had to leave their houses and apartments on Christmas Day. The place was evacuated on Monday due to the critical flood situation. 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.
A ban on entry was imposed on Windehausen on Tuesday afternoon. This was intended to prevent limited access for rescue workers and disaster tourists, said Marquardt. “The situation is currently still critical but stable.”
Evacuations in Lower Saxony
The situation in the Goslar district in Lower Saxony is less stable. There the Oker Dam in the Harz Mountains has reached its maximum capacity. The Braunschweig city administration announced at midday that more water would now be released into the Oker via the overflow of the dam. Instead of 16 cubic meters per second, 30 cubic meters per second now flow into the river. Because of the threat of the Oker flood, the city of Braunschweig has closed several streets near the river. There had previously been talk of a tidal wave in several media reports. In the evening, the city wrote on its website that it was only expecting a “moderate rise in water levels” and not a tidal wave.
In the town of Rinteln in the Schaumburg district, residents of a street directly next to the city wall were evacuated in the morning, as the city administration announced. According to NDR, 108 residents were evacuated. The basements of the buildings on the affected street were full. The fire department is on site with pumps and stacking sandbags.
Lower Saxony's Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) got an idea of the flood situation in the country on Tuesday. During a visit to Northeim, where a dam had burst, he thanked the tens of thousands of helpers for their efforts over the Christmas holidays.
The Lower Saxony State Office for Water Management, Coastal and Nature Conservation (NLWKN) expects a tense flood situation to continue in the coming days. “In fact, the situation throughout Lower Saxony is very tense,” said NLWKN director Anne Rickmeyer. Rickmeyer emphasized that water levels are expected to rise in many parts of the country in the coming days. “We have flood situations in the large rivers, but of course we also have many small streams that are swelling all over the country.”
The flood situation in North Rhine-Westphalia also remains tense. “We mostly have rising or constant flood levels,” said a spokesman for the Environment Ministry in Düsseldorf. This leads to pressure on the dikes.
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