Dec 29, 2023 at 11:08 am
Some parts of Germany that have already been flooded in recent days could expect more heavy rain on Friday. There is also the possibility of strong winds across most of the country. Several locations are preparing for flooding.
In the state of North Rhine-Westphalia on the border with the Netherlands and in the Harz Mountains in central Germany it could rain all day. According to the German Meteorological Service, up to 40 millimeters of rain can fall in 24 hours.
Much of the northern state of Lower Saxony also suffers from high water levels. Prime Minister Stephan Weil spoke of records on Thursday. “Never before have we seen flooding of this magnitude here.”
Weil called the situation scary and spoke of “huge bodies of water” in places where otherwise relatively small rivers meander through the landscape. You said 100,000 people are trying to hold back the water, for example by strengthening dams with sandbags.
In the eastern city of Dresden the water in the Elbe River is much higher than normal. A reading of 5.92 meters was measured on Thursday, instead of the usual 2 metres. German authorities expect the water to exceed 6 meters on Friday. In that case, the country will activate the second highest alert level.
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Drone images show the flooded area in Germany
Probably no effect on Deventer
Deventer does not expect any problems so far due to the weather in Germany. In that Dutch city in recent days it seemed interesting to see if the water would splash on the pier.
The water level is now 6.11 meters. “This is already 10 centimeters less than yesterday,” a spokesperson told NU.nl on Friday. He expects this decline to continue in the coming days, as he watches the water levels in Lobith, where the Rhine enters the Netherlands.
In the coming days, the water from the Rhine, Waal and IJssel will continue to slowly recede, Rijkswaterstaat confirms.
The water rises again in early January
From January 3 the water level will rise again. Around January 8 the water may rise slightly higher than on Thursday. But according to Rijkswaterstaat, this is still far from certain. The water height depends on the precipitation in the Rhine catchment area.
Since Christmas Day, the water in the Meuse has also decreased. If it continues to rain heavily in the Ardennes, the water in the Meuse could rise slightly. Rijkswaterstaat cannot say much about this with certainty, because the weather patterns for those days differ greatly.
2023-12-29 10:08:00
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