New warnings about continuous rain are to follow, existing warnings are to be extended until Saturday. “A particular focus is on areas in the west and center of the country,” reported meteorologist Julia Tuschy.
Warning level 3 in Bavaria
Especially in Lower Saxony, but also in other federal states, the emergency services have been fighting against the flood waters for days; parts of North Rhine-Westphalia, the south of Saxony-Anhalt and the north of Thuringia are also particularly affected. In eastern Bavaria, reporting level two should be reached in places on Wednesday night, as the flood intelligence service of the Bavarian State Office for the Environment announced. In the catchment area of the Regen River in the Cham district, level 3 is even possible. In the Bamberg district in northern Bavaria, some rivers are also expected to reach this warning level.
The DWD expected rainfall amounts of between 30 and 50 liters per square meter for Wednesday and Thursday. In mountainous areas – especially in congested areas – it could be 60 to 120 liters per square meter within 30 to 60 hours. “Showers will continue across the country on Thursday night,” said Wednesday’s forecast. During the day there is temporary relaxation in most regions. “Only in a wide strip from the Lower Rhine across Thuringia to the Erzgebirge and the Fichtelgebirge can further rainfall be expected until the evening,” said the meteorologist.
Deep “Brigitta” brings further rainfall
On Thursday, a new low called “Brigitta” will make its way from Brittany towards northern Germany. “On Friday night, its precipitation area will spread to the west and northwest of Germany and will affect the northern half over the course of Friday,” predicted the meteorologist.
Cold air seeps in in the second half of the week. As a result, the precipitation turns into snow – initially especially in the north of Schleswig-Holstein. Towards the end of the week, another storm will form, which, according to the DWD, will probably be called “Charlotte”. The associated precipitation will affect the Alpine region and southern Germany on Saturday. Due to the cold air seeping in from the north, the snowfall limit is also falling in southern Germany. Snow is increasingly falling there even in the lowlands.
Rethinking protective measures
As a consequence of the flood, experts are calling for a rethink when it comes to protecting against flooding. “As a result of climate change, where the flood processes will change, we will certainly see other types of floods in the future,” said Ralf Merz, hydrologist at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Halle (Saale), on Deutschlandfunk on Wednesday morning. “Such long flood events will certainly occur more often in the future.” For example, the expert pointed out that there are now far fewer river floodplains – i.e. natural flood areas.
