SHARE
COPY LINK

FLOODS

Four dead as floods sweep southern Germany

Rescuers battled Monday to evacuate people from floods in southern Germany that have claimed four lives, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz called it a "warning" that climate change was getting worse.

Bavaria's State Premier and leader of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) party Markus Soeder and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visit flood-ravaged areas in Reichertshofen, southern Germany on June 3, 2024.
Bavaria's State Premier and leader of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) party Markus Soeder and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visit flood-ravaged areas in Reichertshofen, southern Germany on June 3, 2024. Photo by LUKAS BARTH / AFP

Thousands of people in the regions of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg had to leave their homes since torrential rain on Friday sparked deadly flooding.

More evacuations were called overnight into Monday as the huge volumes of water caused flood defences to fail.

In Bavaria, around 800 people were asked to leave their homes in the area of Ebenhausen-Werk after a dam burst early Monday.

Residents around Manching-Pichl, in the area worst affected by the floods, were told to shelter on the upper floors of their homes.

Speaking on a visit to Reichertshofen, in a flood-hit area north of Munich, Scholz said that such floods were no longer a “one-off”.

“This is an indication that something is up here. We must not neglect the task of stopping man-made climate change,” Scholz told journalists.

The floods were “a warning that we must take with us”, he said.

READ ALSO: ‘No future’: How the climate crisis is changing Alpine ski resorts

‘Never before’

The Bavarian state premier, Markus Söder, who accompanied Scholz on his visit, said there was no “full insurance” against climate change.

“Events are happening here that have never happened before,” Söder said, after a state of emergency was declared by districts across his region of Bavaria.

Around 20,000 people in Bavaria alone had been deployed to tackle the consequences of the flood, he said.

The historic part of Heidelberg is flooded during high water of the Neckar river in Heidelberg, southwestern Germany on June 3, 2024.

The historic part of Heidelberg is flooded during high water of the Neckar river in Heidelberg, southwestern Germany on June 3, 2024. Photo by Daniel ROLAND / AFP

Police in Baden-Württemberg on Monday said a man and a woman were found dead in the basement of their house in Schorndorf following the flood.

The same fate befell a 43-year-old woman in Schrobenhausen, Bavaria, whose body was found by rescuers earlier Monday.

The discoveries took the total killed by the floods to at least four, following the death of a volunteer fireman whose body was found on Sunday.

The 42-year-old volunteer died after his vessel turned over during a flood rescue operation.

Another volunteer, 22, was still missing after his boat also overturned overnight into Sunday.

A search operation to find the missing rescue worker had to be stopped due to the exceptionally high waters and strong currents, local police said.

The German Weather Service on Monday issued new warnings for heavy rain in parts of southern and eastern Germany.

READ ALSO: How floods are wreaking havoc across southern Germany

‘Rail delays’

The widespread flooding and continuous rainfall impacted transport in the region with widespread train cancellations and delays.

Train lines leading from Munich to Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Wuerzburg were unusable, rail operator Deutsche Bahn said.

A landslide near Schwaebisch Gmuend overnight into Sunday caused a high-speed train travelling between Stuttgart and Augsburg to derail, blocking the line. Nobody was hurt in the incident.

READ ALSO Trains cancelled in Germany due to severe flooding 

Despite Scholz’s pledge to combat climate change, a panel of experts separately said Monday that the government’s emissions forecasts through 2030 were unrealistic.

The government had underestimated future emissions in the transport, building and industry sectors, the climate panel said in a report.

Overall, the experts assumed that the government’s emissions-reduction target for 2030 “will not be met”.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

WEATHER

‘Tornadoes possible’: Severe storms expected across Germany

Thunderstorms, severe rain and wind are expected to plague Euro 2024 fans and festival goers alike in some parts of Germany on Friday.

'Tornadoes possible': Severe storms expected across Germany

According to the German Weather Service (DWD), severe thunderstorms with heavy rain, large hailstones and hurricane gusts are to be expected on Friday, especially in southern and eastern Germany.

Even though the worst of the weather is expected in these regions, forecasters said there may also be storms and strong winds in the west and north of the country.

The DWD warned of thunderstorms affecting the entire eastern half of Germany on Friday afternoon – in eastern Bavaria, Saxony and Brandenburg as far as Berlin.

“The potential for the formation of supercells is high in these areas,” said DWD meteorologist Felix Dietzsch in a statement. A supercell is a type of thunderstorm characterised by the presence of a mesocyclone, or a cloud formation that has a rotating updraft. 

The DWD added that tornadoes are a possibility in eastern regions. 

Additionally, heavy rain with up to 40 litres per square meter are expected in some locations.

The thunderstorms are forecast to move eastwards during the night.

Going into the weekend, the weather is expected to calm down.

Further thunderstorms are possible in the southwest on Saturday, but they are expected to be less severe.

Next week, a longer high-pressure phase will likely bring calm summer weather for the start of the season, with temperatures between 25 and 30 C.

Euro 2024 games and festivals affected

Thunderstorms on Friday afternoon and evening will make watching Friday’s Euro 2024 games uncomfortable in some places.

The Netherlands and France are scheduled to play in Leipzig at 9 pm. The fan zone there, which was temporarily closed on Tuesday due to impending storms, will remain closed on Friday. Fan zones will also remain closed in some other states as a precaution.

Rainy weather may also impact Slovakia and Ukraine’s match in Düsseldorf at 3 pm, and it could hit Poland and Austria’s match in Berlin at 6 pm.

A number of music festivals will also be affected by the weather.

The Hurricane Festival in Lower Saxony and Southside in Baden-Württemberg are both scheduled to begin on Friday, and are each expecting more than 60,000 attendees.

In Saxony-Anhalt, which could be particularly affected by the storms, the Full Force festival also starts on Friday.

Fête de la Musique is also scheduled for Friday at 140 locations across Germany. In Berlin alone 250 concerts are planned across the city from 4-10 pm.

SHOW COMMENTS