After the storm on Pentecost Sunday, it is now a question of finding the culprits

Created: 06/12/2022, 04:51

By: Birgit Lang

Mud as far as the eye can see: The town of Babing was badly affected by the flooding.

© Birgit Lang

Flood damage after heavy rain on Pentecost Sunday: Were the ditches not cleared?

The authorities deny this allegation.

Taufkirchen

– There have been floods again after heavy rainfall.

Fear and anger increase with every heavy rain event.

Above all, those who are severely affected look for causes and solutions, but also for culprits.

The Osendorfer family in Babing was hit hard.

The water flowed from the field via the district road into the courtyard and flooded the 180 square meter basement apartment.

The muddy water in the rooms was almost 70 centimeters high.

“We pumped everything out straight away.

15 firefighters from Hofkirchen and the neighbors were there immediately and worked their ass off,” says family man Hans Osendorfer.

Much was irretrievably destroyed.

"We have cleared out everything: cupboards, beds, the boys' rooms, bathroom, boiler room, laundry room with washing machine, dryer, we now have to buy everything again."

"The earth bit into the long grass and the water couldn't get away," says Osendorfer.

In addition, the ditch has not been cleared for a long time, he explains the mishap.

"It's never been this bad, and we've had quite a few showers with such amounts of rain."

He also knows about nature conservation that "habitat for rare creatures" must be protected.

But he sees a failure on the part of the authorities, who take care of the appropriate drainage and should have done something long ago.

"In previous years, the ditches were cleared more often and mowed at the right time, the authorities have the data.

It's nothing new that strong thunderstorms form quickly at this time of year."

Andreas Weger von Holzhäusl and his neighbors were also flooded by the heavy rain for the third time in five years.

The sandbags were therefore already ready and worse could be prevented.

So "the garages and driveways were muddy, driveways and a riding arena were torn away".

Weger also complains that the ditches on the road have not been cleared and mowed for a long time.

The Holzhäusler are also afraid that future heavy rain events will become even heavier for them as a result of the planned Hubenstein-Nord settlement, because the sealing will mean less water seeping into the meadow of the slope above them.

Stefan Homilius, deputy head of the water management office in Munich, can understand the fears.

He emphasizes: "The development plan must not cause any deterioration for those below." This must be proven and must also be technically guaranteed by the planning and development.

The Holzhäusler “are in this hole down below and are already struggling with heavy rain.

You have to take that seriously.”

Hauptstrassenmeister Manfred Zißelsberger from Erding explains that the Taufkirchen and Erdinger Strassenmeisterei will mow the verges in rotation from mid-May to mid-October in shifts from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. five days a week;

Ditches and culverts are cleared or cleaned once a year.

In the district of Erding, two squads, each with 23 employees, are on the road.

A total of 1,000 kilometers of verges can be covered with just two mowing vehicles.

"You can't have done that in three to four weeks."

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The Taufkirchen building yard mows the verges four times a year.

Whether the ditches are mowed or not doesn't play a major role.

The bigger problem is the sludge runoff from the corridors, explains building authority manager Günter Mayr.

This would flood the ditches and the piping.

"Then nothing happens anymore."

But it was also an unusual rain event with 40 to 95 liters of water per square meter in half an hour.

The building yard has been working continuously with almost all employees since Sunday to clear away the mud and clear everything again.

The ditch in Holzhäusl is free again.