Flood Fighters in Leer Battle Dike Breaches
In the laid-back East Frisian municipality of Leer, residents are bracing for evacuation due to the relentless flooding. Neighboring villages are seeing the dyke's first signs of weakening, with visible cracks forming. As water levels remain on the rise, human chains are deployed to support the embankment's integrity.
Overnight, firefighters in the Leer district of Lower Saxony have been vigilantly building sandbag barriers and attempting to avert dyke breaches. Spokesperson for the fire department, Dominik Janßen, reported that a dyke in the neighboring East Frisian village of Langholt had become remarkably soft, putting it at risk of collapsing. He likened the state of the dyke to a "pudding," leaving residents braced for a potential evacuation as conditions deteriorate. Emergency accommodation has already been set up as precaution.
The tension in the nearby village of Hollen was reportedly even more palpable. Another dyke there had also softened, with "very high water pressure" and the emergence of "cracks" to show for it. The problem lies in the fact that the water continues to rise, Janßen explained. The maximum water level for Langholt was predicted at 2 a.m., with water already having breached the embankment during the day. Leer is situated in southern East Frisia.
Meanwhile, Christmas vacation has been marred by heavy rain and flooding in numerous parts of Germany. A district in the municipality of Heringen in northern Thuringia was forced to evacuate due to a power outage. Residents of Windehausen were ordered to relocate in mid-day, with mayor Matthias Marquardt (Left Party) estimating that the majority of the 490 residents had complied by evening. Around 100 to 150 people were thought to remain in their homes and apartments.
The Windehausen area had become inaccessible by regular vehicles due to the floods since Sunday, as Marquardt shared with MDR. The aim is to extract the water using large pumps starting from Tuesday.
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Given the critical flooding in East Frisia, many families chose to celebrate Christmas Eve in alternative lodgings away from flood-prone areas. Some holiday markets were moved to higher ground or closed outright to ensure visitor safety.
Despite the festive season, emergency teams are working around the clock to maintain dyke integrity, prevent further catastrophes, and save properties from submergence. International aid is also crucial, drawing in experts from various countries to aid in dyke restoration efforts, particularly in the affected areas such as Leer.
Sources:
Despite the severity of the flooding in East Frisia, current information on the efforts of fire departments in stabilizing dykes and repelling breaches is not readily available in the provided sources. Relevant data is scarce, and sources focus on historical events like the Vickers Wellington bomber operations during World War II or technical paperwork related to Delft3D-FLOW, a hydrodynamic modeling software with no real-time or current flood management information.
To acquire the most current and reliable information about the ongoing efforts and situations of fire departments in stabilizing dykes and combating breaches in Leer, East Frisia, during the flooding crisis, consult recent news articles, official reports from local authorities, and emergency management websites.
