Evacuations by helicopter

Dams flooded! Flood of the century threatens here

(Bild: picturedesk.com/Stefan Puchner/dpa )

The flood situation in southern Germany - on the border with Austria - is getting worse and worse! In some communities there are floods of the century. Roads are under water, dam areas are flooded, highways have been partially closed. The first residents have already been rescued by boats and helicopters.

Low pressure system Quirina brings huge amounts of rain from the Mediterranean to Germany. According to the German Weather Service (DWD), an entire month's worth of rain is set to fall over the next few hours - up to 150 liters per square meter - especially from Lake Constance via Bavaria to the edges of Thuringia and Saxony!

The situation is an "extreme burden" for citizens, said Minister President Markus Söder (CSU). "This is not over yet. It's only just getting started." The main focus of the storm is currently in Swabia, which is why resources are being pulled together there.

On Saturday afternoon, the Danube tributaries Umlach in Ummendorf, Rottum in Laupheim (both in the Biberach district), Wurzacher Ach in Leutkirch-Reichenhofen (Ravensburg district) and Weihung in Unterkirchberg (Alb-Donau district) were carrying as much water as in a flood of the century.

When do we speak of a once-in-a-century flood?
The flood of the century is a calculated value and refers to a flood that is statistically reached or exceeded once every hundred years. As of midday on Saturday, many severe weather warnings are initially valid until Sunday, some into Monday.

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Emergency declared in several districts
The DWD is warning of severe weather on Saturday, especially for parts of Bavaria. The highest warning level 4 applies for western Swabia, Oberallgäu and Upper Bavaria, with the districts of Augsburg, Aichach-Friedberg and Günzburg declaring a state of disaster. According to the district administration office in Augsburg, the water levels are expected to continue to rise sharply.

We have to activate and bundle all our forces to help people as best we can. Good luck to everyone!

Klaus Metzger (CSU), Landrat im Landkreis Aichach-Friedberg

People rescued with boats and helicopters 
Fischach was hit particularly hard in the district of Augsburg. The entire village here is completely under water and resembles a raging river. Some residents had to be rescued from the flooded area by rescue helicopter. In addition to Bavaria, the neighboring state of Baden-Württemberg has also been severely affected. People were brought to safety here - some by boat. 

In Babenhausen in Unterallgäu, the cell phone network failed in places. Anyone who needed help and was unable to make an emergency call should hang a white sheet or cloth out of the window or - if possible - make themselves noticed at the window to draw attention to their plight, the district office instructed. People in the village had already been taken out of their homes in inflatable boats.

Citizens should leave their homes voluntarily
In the Swabian district of Unterallgäu, around 150 people were asked to leave their homes voluntarily. In the village of Babenhausen alone, around 100 people were affected, said a spokeswoman for the district administration. Around 1,300 people in Meckenbeuren (Lake Constance district in Baden-Württemberg) had already been advised to leave their homes on Friday evening.

Injured in car accidents
There have also already been numerous police operations in Bavaria. According to police reports, several people were injured in car accidents caused by the rain on the Autobahn 9 on Friday. Cellars and streets were repeatedly flooded. Emergency services and residents living near rivers with rising water levels prepared themselves with sandbags.

The prison in Memmingen (Bavaria) was evacuated due to the flooding. Around 100 prisoners - including around 20 women - were distributed to the prisons in Landsberg, Kempten and Aichach, as the head of the Memmingen and Kempten prisons, Anja Ellinger, announced on Saturday on request. "If the prisoners can't go to the toilet, there will be trouble. We wanted to avoid that," said Ellinger. In the meantime, the water had reached the prison rooms, although not the cells.

10,000 sandbags set up
According to the fire department, a central sandbag storage facility was commissioned in Friedrichhafen on Lake Constance in Baden Württemberg. Around 10,000 sandbags are to be brought there from a neighboring district. Hundreds of firefighters, technical relief workers and the German Red Cross helped.

No easing on Sunday either
According to the DWD, there could be thunderstorms and heavy rain on Sunday in the area between the Main and Danube rivers, extending to the Munich area from midday - with up to 40 liters per square meter in a short period of time.

Operations also in Switzerland
In Switzerland, too, heavy rainfall led to numerous floods, landslides and flooded cellars. The flood situation was tense. The Zurich fire department had to respond 200 times by Saturday morning due to water in buildings or flooded streets. In the canton of Thurgau, the police initially registered more than 100 damage reports. In the canton of St. Gallen, the emergency call center coordinated around 90 fire department operations. Several cellars were also flooded in the canton of Zug.