Highest storm warning level in Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate! Continuous rain with up to 100 liters per square meter floods cities and even causes dams to break. Read everything important in the weather ticker.
2.50 a.m.: After extreme, continuous rain, the situation in the Trier-Saarburg district calmed down on Saturday night, according to the district administration. “The levels of the Saar and other bodies of water are reaching their peak or are beginning to fall,” said the district’s technical operations management on Saturday morning shortly before 2 a.m. Up to that point, the situation had not gotten any worse for a few hours. But it is still labor-intensive.
The evacuation of the lower-lying districts in Schoden an der Saar was successfully completed by early Saturday morning. According to the district administration, 220 people were accommodated in a gymnasium in Saarburg-Beurig. A retirement home was also evacuated in Saarburg and a hotel in Trittenheim on the Middle Moselle. Around 50 people were affected and were accommodated in a gymnasium.
2:18 a.m.: The entire Schlossplatz in Zweibrücken is under water. In addition, many cellars in the pedestrian zone were flooded. The fire brigade is currently still in constant use.
02.16 a.m.: The flood situation in Hornbach and Althornbach is still somewhat tense, said Susanne Ganster, the district administrator for Southwest Palatinate. The water levels would slowly recede. “We are of good courage that nothing stronger will come in the night,” she said,
1:27 a.m.: According to the Interior Ministry, the current situation in Saarland remains tense due to the constant rain. “We still have two or three places in Saarland where it is very critical,” said a spokesman on Saturday night. There are currently around 650 missions underway in the country.
1 a.m.: The Saarland state government took the first steps for financial aid after the floods on Saturday night. “Many Saarlanders are worried about their four walls and their belongings or have already suffered severe damage,” said Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger (SPD). “So that no time is lost, the state government has made short-term decisions to provide help to repair the damage that has occurred.” However, no one can yet name specific amounts.
In a call late on Friday evening, the Council of Ministers identified a so-called elementary event of supra-local significance. According to the State Chancellery, this means that state aid can flow. In addition, municipalities could deviate from budget balancing regulations due to the extraordinary emergency situation. “The state government and municipalities stand together – like the whole of Saarland,” said Interior Minister Reinhold Jost (SPD).
00.38 a.m.: According to ARD, the 100-year high at the Felsalbe, which is located just before the Saarland border, has been exceeded. The floods of water continue to move towards Saarland.
00.23 a.m.: Increased flooding must continue to be expected, especially in the districts of Lauterbach, Ludweiler, Geislautern and Wehrden. Sports facilities and the outdoor swimming pool in the city center are also affected. The city asked people to continue to keep an eye on the water levels and to behave prudently. Possible maximum water levels are expected or exceeded in the next 24 hours:
Prims with tributaries: Reporting height 3 – 4Upper Blies: Reporting height 4, tendency slightly increasingLower Blies: Reporting height 2, tendency increasingNied: Reporting height 4, tendency slightly increasingSaar: Reporting height 2, tendency increasing
00.21 a.m.: In Völklingen in Saarland, streets have been taken off the power grid due to the persistent rain. The city announced late on Friday evening that the drinking water supply was secure. “Damages in the millions are expected in Völklingen, especially in the private sector,” it said. “The extent of the damage is not yet foreseeable.”
00.11 a.m.: In the town of Ruwer, the fire brigade and the THW are preparing for possible floods. The backwater from the full Moselle threatens to flood houses. Therefore, people should avoid driving through town if possible. There are currently around 30 houses in Ruwer in a possible danger area.
Saturday, May 18, 12:06 a.m.: According to the city of Trier, the situation in Olewig appears to have calmed down. A spokesman said that the fire department’s deployment of sandbags and temporary dams has so far protected all houses in Olewig from major damage.
11:57 p.m.: People in Saarbrücken should avoid cellars, bodies of water and flooded areas due to the persistent rain. “Tidal waves can come suddenly, banks can collapse,” the city announced on Friday evening. “Crossing flooded streets should be avoided at all costs – both on foot and by car.” Citizens should therefore stay away from the affected areas and, if necessary, spend the night somewhere else.
11.45 p.m.: The continuous rain isn’t letting up yet. According to the city of Völklingen, flooding is still possible in the districts of Lauterbach, Ludweiler, Geislautern and Wehrden. In the city center of Völklingen, sports facilities and the outdoor swimming pool have already been flooded and some street lights had to be switched off.
11.43 p.m.: Residents in Serrig also had to leave their homes on Friday evening. The town had to be evacuated due to flooding. According to the “Volksfreund”, the flooding of the Serriger Bach divided the village into two.
11.10 p.m.: The situation in the flood areas in southwest Germany affected by persistent rain continued to worsen on Friday evening. The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief warned, among other things, of extreme danger for residents after a dam burst in the Saarland community of Quierschied. In Schoden, located on the Saar River in Rhineland-Palatinate, the district called on residents of several streets to leave their houses immediately.
The Saarländischer Rundfunk (SR), citing the State Office for the Environment and Occupational Safety, reported that water levels were expected to continue rising until midnight, and in some places even until Saturday morning. The heavy rain caused flooded streets, full basements and landslides throughout Saarland.
The state capital Saarbrücken had previously declared a major disaster. The German Weather Service (DWD) had issued an official storm warning that there was a great danger to life and limb from massive flooding and high water levels, the city announced late on Friday afternoon. It is possible that areas become impassable or surrounded by masses of water, and there could also be landslides.
10:43 p.m.: Numerous evacuation measures are currently underway in the flood regions. According to information from “sr.info”, the district office in Ottweiler (Saarland) is currently being evacuated. In Saarburg, the old town is also at risk of being flooded, and there has already been water intrusion in a retirement home. The evacuation should be prepared.
In Trassem (Rhineland-Pflaz), several people have apparently barricaded themselves in their houses and are also being evacuated there.
10:32 p.m.: Susanne Ganster (CDU), district administrator of the Southwest Palatinate district, described the situation in the region on Friday evening as “very critical”. The first evacuations have now taken place there too. A youth camp with 100 young people near Lake Clausen in Waldfischbach-Burgalben was evacuated. In addition, people are to be evacuated from several streets in Hornbach.
10:20 p.m.: Major damage situation in several districts and in the state capital: Large amounts of rain fell in Saarland in just a few hours. Houses had to be evacuated and rescue workers were on constant duty.
A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said on Friday evening that 50,000 sandbags from the state reserve had been released. It is being examined whether help should be requested from surrounding federal states. Later in the evening, the spokesman said that the situation was still tense: “It is still far from the case that we can think about cleaning up.”
“We have evacuations everywhere,” said a spokesman for the situation center in Saarbrücken. “It’s raining everywhere, nationwide.” The population was asked to avoid spending time outdoors at all costs and to avoid flooded or endangered sections of traffic routes.
9.42 p.m.: It was already apparent on Friday afternoon that some of the heavy rain could move towards Luxembourg, Belgium and France. This has actually happened. Although it is still raining in the flood areas, it is steadily decreasing. The focus remains on the southern Palatinate. Here, almost all rivers report a once-in-a-century flood or even events that, statistically speaking, only occur every few hundred years. The Saar is also threatened with a 100-year flood.
Saarbrücken’s mayor Uwe Conradt told “sr.info”: “We are preparing for the levels to continue to rise. Especially along the Saar. We expect a significant increase here.” The rain will stop on Saturday night. By shifting precipitation to the west, flood areas may have been spared 10 to 20 liters of rain per square meter.
9:25 p.m.: In Quierschied (Saarland) a dam broke around 7:15 p.m. A coal-fired power plant is said to have been flooded with water from an old fishing pond. The power plant was shut down, which is why there is currently no longer any district heating in Quierschied.
9.10 p.m.: Due to the risk of flooding, around 220 people in Schoden an der Saar in the Trier-Saarburg district have to leave their homes as a precaution. As the district administration announced on Friday evening, the residents will initially be accommodated in a gym in Saarburg. The water level in the Saar had previously risen so much due to the constant rain that there were fears that the embankment would be flooded. Helpers wanted to try to stabilize the dam with sandbags.
“In almost all places along the Saar, streets and buildings are flooded, and in many communities smaller bodies of water are overflowing their banks,” said the district authority. “Fire departments and other emergency services are deployed in all municipalities to empty cellars and support the population.” More than 1,000 helpers are on duty in the Trier-Saarburg district alone. An increase to a 50 to 100 year flood is possible on the Saar.
8.43 p.m.: The Trier-Saarburg district as well as the southern Palatinate and the cities of Trier, Zweibrücken and Ludwigshafen were particularly affected by the continuous rain in Rhineland-Palatinate on Friday. In Zweibrücken, the fire department is pumping out numerous cellars, including the Nardini Clinic. The Zweibrücken town hall is also affected; the water from the Schwarzbach is already running into the basement there. According to “ZDF”, files from the town hall basement were secured with the help of city employees. Frank Theisinger, Zweibrücken’s chief firefighter and disaster control officer, has already described the current situation as a flood of the century.
The mark for a 100-year flood has now been exceeded on several tributaries of the Moselle. This includes the levels in Walshausen and Würschhauser Mühle 2. The water level in Walshausen is even at a height of 3.83 meters (as of 8.30 p.m.). There is a risk to life in these areas.
In Lebach, Saarland, the situation is also getting dramatically worse. Several streets were evacuated and residents were taken to emergency shelters. In addition, the electricity was switched off in most of the city center for safety reasons.
8.10 p.m.: The emergency services from the Technical Relief Agency tried everything to pump out the water from a pond in Quierschied (Saarland). However, without success, because the dam broke around 7:15 p.m., according to the “Saarbrücker Zeitung”. A hard coal power plant is said to have been flooded. The consequences of this are still uncertain at this point.
The lock in Ottweiler (Saarland) could no longer withstand the pressure of the water masses and was then opened. Since then, the waters of the Blies have flooded the old town. Because of this, sandbags have already been distributed.
8:03 p.m.: Over 100 liters of rain per square meter in less than 24 hours – the German Weather Service (DWD) recorded these quantities at many measuring points in Saarland on Friday. A DWD meteorologist spoke of massive rain for which the rivers and infrastructure were not prepared. For comparison: In the entire month of April, around 74 liters of rain per square meter were measured in Saarland – and this was a sixth more precipitation than normal in that month.
The heavy rainfall is expected to subside in the following hours, the meteorologist said on Friday evening. It will continue to rain, but the intensity will decrease. The DWD is warning of extremely heavy, continuous rain in Saarland until 2 a.m. on Saturday morning. There is a great danger to life and limb due to massive flooding and high water levels.
7.50 p.m.: Large parts of Saarland were hit by floods on Friday. The Interior Ministry spoke of a “widespread flood situation”, with the focus being on the southeastern part of the country. The Neunkirchen district, the Saarpfalz district and the Saarbrücken regional association were particularly affected, the ministry spokesman said in the evening.
The situation in the cities is tense in the state capital Saarbrücken, in Saarbrücken-Russhütte, in Eppelborn, Neunkirchen, Gersweiler, St. Wendel, Saarlouis and Merzig. In some places, residents had to be evacuated from apartments on isolated streets. There were a few old people’s homes – such as one in Marpingen – that had to be evacuated.
In Saarbrücken-Russhütte the situation was “precarious” because the current speed was so high that the fire department had to call off and rescuers from the German Red Cross were called in.
Fortunately, no people have been hurt so far, said the spokesman for the Interior Ministry. 50,000 sandbags from the state reserve have been released. It is being examined whether help should be requested from surrounding federal states.
You can read more about the current weather conditions on the next pages.