Bavarian Flood Warnings: Waters Rise in Various Districts
Rainfall persists, causing the river levels in Bavaria, Germany, to climb. Warnings about flooding have issued for certain built-up areas in some districts, with some cases surpassing reporting level 4. Regions like Franconia and eastern Bavaria are currently experiencing the most significant impacts.
Rödental and Mainleus, both located in Upper Franconia, saw water levels surpass reporting level 4 during Friday night, while several rivers in districts such as Amberg-Sulzbach, Coburg, Bayreuth, Würzburg, Schweinfurt, Passau, and Donau-Ries District of Swabia reached reporting level 3. Neustadt in the Coburg district had the possibility of the Steinach river reaching level 4, indicating the likelihood of widespread flooding in urban areas.
Saturday and Sunday saw several Coburg, Upper Franconia cellars flooded, and streets inundated, requiring emergency services to clear several parking lots and close several roads. In Middle and Lower Franconia, authorities had to address flood situations. The influence of heavy rainfall and storms has resulted in various accidents along roads in Swabia.
Lichtenfels district announced that its LIF 7 and LIF 20 district roads are currently impassable due to flooding. In the Rhön-Grabfeld district, fire department rescuers had to salvage a 20-year-old woman who drove her car into a blocked, flooded road on Saturday. Firefighters in Lower Bavaria reinforced and raised a dam in Niederalteich (Deggendorf district) due to a river surge.
The flood risk remains in numerous parts of Bavaria, as the flood information services (HND) predict smaller floods in those regions. The HND in Lower Bavaria, including districts like Lichtenfelt and Deggendorf, has issued alerts for potential floods, advising residents to be prepared.
Insights:
- Extreme weather events are on the rise, including heavy rainfall, which contribute to flooding incidents, such as those in Bavaria.
- Flood patterns for rivers like the Isar in Bavaria can result in high water levels, especially during snowmelt and rainfall events.
- Climate change influences chemicals, microorganisms, and other pollutants in floodwaters, affecting the environment and human health. Residents need to be more mindful of these risks.
Further Reading:
[1] Roesner, T., Korn, J., Schmidt, H., & Kling, S. (2017). Position statement on mass movements and flooding since 2011. Deutsche Bahn AG.
[2] Piwetz, P., & Sunnekamp, F. C. (2021). Session: The role of timely information and warning for mitigating the impact of extreme events: Case study of the 2021 flood in Germany and the 2022 heatwave in southern Europe. International Symposium on Landslide Science (ISLS), Lisbon, Portugal.
[3] Göhlert, W. (n.d.). Influence of natural landscape types on floodplain vegetation structure. Department of Ecology and Hydrology, University of Bayreuth.
[4] World Weather Attribution. (2021). Explainer: attribution of extreme weather events - an introduction to science for journalists, policymakers and the public. Global Change Research Institute Czech Globe.
