Bundeswehr on standby: Since Christmas, several rivers in Germany have burst their banks | DW News

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Bundeswehr on standby: Since Christmas, several rivers in Germany have burst their banks | DW News

Continued heavy rainfall is expected in some areas of Germany already affected by flooding, the national weather service DWD said.
Much of the country has been hit by severe rain since Christmas Day, causing some rivers to burst their banks, while others are gradually giving in.

DWD said that up to 40 millimeters of rain could fall within 24 hours in some areas of the western state of North-Rhine Westphalia and in the Harz Mountains in central Germany.
Areas along the Aller, Leine and Weser rivers in the northwestern state of Lower Saxony had already been flooded, according to regional authorities.

Lower Saxony requested help from Germany’s military, the Bundeswehr, on Friday, with state Interior Minister Daniela Behrens speaking of a "very tense situation."
According to the Bundeswehr, six helicopters were put on standby.

A spokesman said that the operation would center around securing dikes in the area around Oldenburg and the region north of Hanover. Personnel and material transport and evacuations of people at risk could also be carried out.

The city of Oldenburg had declared an ongoing "extraordinary event," allowing districts to access emergency services more easily.
Lower Saxony’s Premier, Stephel Weil, said on Thursday that the state had never seen flooding of this magnitude.

"Experts have been warning for a long time that the increasingly frequent extreme weather events are linked to climate change," he said.

#germany #floods #bundeswehr

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Date: December 31, 2023