Thousands evacuated and a firefighter killed by serious floods in southern Germany | The Basque Journal

Tens of thousands of rescue forces and volunteers continue to face the serious floods that affect the southern German states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, where it has been raining incessantly for several days and numerous towns have had to be evacuated due to the flood. from the rivers. They raise dams with sandbags, pump out the water that floods basements and garages, close areas classified as dangerous and rescue people trapped by water in their homes. The floods have so far claimed the life of one firefighter, while another has been missing since Sunday night, swept away by a flood, as well as a woman, who is presumed drowned inside the flooded basement of her home and who Rescue forces have not yet been able to access it.

Ten rescue and transfer helicopters for the wounded and sick from the German automobile club ADAC have been on uninterrupted service in Bavaria since Saturday, picking up isolated people from balconies and roofs. The German meteorological service announced that, although the rainfall is expected to subside this Monday, in some areas of southern Germany there is a threat of heavy rain, hail and hurricane-force winds that could further aggravate the situation. Meanwhile, dozens of towns in districts such as Rems-Murr, Ostalb, Göppingen and Donauwörth are flooded and thousands of people have been evacuated and moved to safe places.

Railway lines, meanwhile, are in many places cut off by floods and flash floods in southern Germany. The Deutsche Bahn company has asked its users to refrain from traveling by train to the affected regions. Convoys from the north and west, such as those from the important line between Berlin and the Bavarian capital, no longer arrive in Munich, the capital of Bavaria. Commuter trains have also had to suspend their services in large regions of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Last night, at the central stations of Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Munich, Deutsche Bahn made convoys available to passengers stranded in those cities so that they could spend the night under cover.

Historic flood of the Danube

Given the critical situation in several affected areas, the president of the Federation of German Municipalities, Uwe Brandl, called in the newspaper ‘Augsburger Allgemeinen’ for “more personal responsibility, personal precautions and a willingness on the part of society to address the problem together and take action on its own. This includes, among other things, “giving up land if necessary to protect against flooding,” said the Christian Social politician. Gerda Hasselfeldt, president of the German Red Cross, called in the same newspaper for the country to invest more in protection and prevention against catastrophes.

Rescuers are currently increasingly concentrating on the Danube, which threatens a historic flood. According to the situation report of the Bavarian Flood Information Service, the maximum alert level four has been reached on the Danube from Regensburg to Straubing, among other places, and Passau is expected to reach this level on Monday afternoon. In Donauwörth, experts expect the flood to reach its maximum level this afternoon. In Kelheim, they expect the Danube to reach a flood level unknown for more than 20 years throughout the day.

“Everyone involved is working at full speed to prepare the regions in the best possible way for the imminent wave of floods” in the river that crosses Europe from west to east, declared Bavarian Environment Minister Thorsten Glauber. The water management sector is mobilizing all available resources. Mobile flood defenses are also being installed at several points along the Danube. “To relieve pressure on flood protection facilities on the Danube, the water management administration is activating and filling reservoirs and flooding existing retention zones along tributaries,” Glauber noted.