12/30/2023 06:08 (current 12/30/2023 06:08)
Emergency services fortify a dike in Lower Saxony ©APA/dpa
The flood situation will continue to keep Germany and especially Lower Saxony in suspense on Saturday. Numerous gauges continued to show the highest alert level on rivers. In addition, rain showers hit the north again overnight.
In the districts of Lüchow-Dannenberg and Verden, officials do not expect water levels to drop before New Year's week. The situation in the Aller was still critical: in Verden/Aller the water continued to rise, as announced by the district fire department on Friday evening. In view of the flood situation, the city of Celle and the neighboring municipality of Winsen/Aller also warned of interruptions to the power supply and mobile network as the water level in the Aller is expected to continue to rise. Firefighters, administration and aid organizations constantly monitored the situation.
In Lilienthal (Osterholz district), directly on the state border with Bremen, the situation remains tense, the Stade fire and rescue control center announced on Friday evening via an official danger information. Areas that have already been evacuated cannot enter yet. Several streets in the community are without power. Further south, in Hanover, water levels in the Leine and Ihme have fallen – but emergency services have yet to signal all is well.
According to estimates by the State Office for Water Management, Coastal and Nature Conservation, water levels downstream of the Weser will continue to rise. Particularly in the lower reaches of the Middle Weser, it is not yet possible to speak of an easing of tensions. Taking into account the expected rains, the Minister of the Interior, Daniela Behrens (SPD), expects the flood situation to worsen in some regions in the coming days, as she said this Friday in an interview with Deutschlandfunk. According to the German Weather Service, the rain is initially expected to ease slightly from Saturday to Sunday morning.
The Federal Technical Assistance Agency (THW) prepared to operate in the flooded areas until the first week of January. “It is very clear that this will last until the turn of the year,” THW President Sabine Lackner told the German Press Agency on Friday in Berlin. “What worries us a lot is the condition of the dikes.” They have been greatly softened. Around 1,000 emergency services travel daily in the affected areas.
The city of Celle has appealed to people to take the closures seriously and only travel to the city if absolutely necessary. “Increased tourism and flood traffic is preventing rescue teams from getting through in many places.” The Verden fire department also reported disruptive tourists from the disaster. The Osterholz district also fears that there will be too many onlookers in the flooded area on New Year's Eve.
Several districts again appealed not to enter the levees because they were weakened and could be damaged. In the city of Oldenburg there is a ban on entering dikes, which is punishable by up to 5,000 euros.
Due to weather conditions and flooding, rail travelers have to prepare for delays and route closures for longer than planned. The connection between Oldenburg and Osnabrück is still restricted due to flooding, a Nordwestbahn spokeswoman said on Friday.
Meanwhile, levels in the Harz dams continue to fall. A spokesman for the Harz waterworks said on Friday that water is no longer being released through the emergency overflow. However, the situation remains tense because there is still a lot of water in the reservoirs. The Harz hydraulic system is waiting for dry weather so that the dams can continue to drain and thus guarantee flood protection.