One year after the heavy rain: The situation in Valley and Weyarn

Created: 07/26/2022, 07:02

By: Christine Merk, Andreas Höger

Protective material on site: The municipality has deposited sandbags on the mountain road in Oberdarching.

The picture shows Mayor Bernhard Schäfer (l.) and Darching fire brigade commander Bernhard Huber.

© Thomas Plettenberg

A year ago today, torrential heavy rain came over the district of Miesbach.

Residents of Valley and Weyarn were hit particularly hard.

How have the communities reacted?

Valley/Weyarn

– Hailstones as big as golf balls, followed by torrential heavy rain: The storm that fell in the north of the district on Tuesday a year ago flooded the whole of Oberdarching within a few minutes.

Is the place better protected today?

Probably not yet this summer, because the dam elevation of the retention basin is still a long way off.

When the village stream comes, every minute counts.

When on the evening of July 26, 2021 - less than two weeks after the flood disaster in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia - the floodgates opened and the water gushed out of every crack in the floor, the place was flooded faster than ever before.

Ten houses were full (including some in Mitterdarching), two oil tanks were floating.

So much water pressed in from the Fentberg and the surrounding meadows that it was soon knee-deep in the village.

“Surprised how fast it went”

"Everyone was surprised at how quickly everything happened back then," says Mayor Bernhard Schäfer (FWG).

A year after the flood, which plunged some residents into financial problems, the municipality has at least given a sign that it is not idle: there is now a small wooden shed on the mountain path, which has sandbags in two lattice boxes on site.

"So that no valuable time is lost and you can react quickly," explained Schäfer in the municipal council.

"A great idea," said Florian Frei (Greens).

Josef Huber (Valleyer Liste) also welcomed the sandbag hut: "It always quickly got hot in town." The sandbags are not locked, but according to Schäfer they should only be used in consultation with the fire brigade.

"We are planning to place more of these sandbag depots in neuralgic places," announced the mayor.

As important as quickly available sandbags may be, they are not the ultimate solution for flood-plagued Oberdarching (Schäfer: “our hotspot”).

This great achievement, a noticeable protection far from the village, would be the raising of the dam of the existing retention basin on the upper reaches of the village stream.

It has been planned for years, and there is always a waiting loop to be filmed.

But now land is in sight, says Schäfer.

"We want to complete the planning this year and start building next year." The dam is to be raised by three meters;

instead of 3,000 cubic meters of water, 25,000 cubic meters can then be held back.

The municipality wants to spend around 670,000 euros, minus state subsidies.

The water masses on July 26, 2021 in Darching (municipality of Valley).

© Thomas Gaulke

Raising the dam has been in the pipeline since 2014. The plans became more concrete in 2018, when the integral flood protection and retention concept for the community was drawn up.

"It takes expert opinions, and they take time," says Schäfer, "there's a lot of work to be done." The stability of the wall, the soil quality, the impact on nature conservation - all of this is clarified in advance so that the approval process can be completed as quickly as possible.

Mayor sees personal responsibility

For the time being, however, the municipality must restrict itself to excavating the bed of the village stream.

"That will happen in the next few days," says Schäfer, "the stream has to run." It may also be necessary to open the piping.

"We'll take a close look at it." Unlike the neighboring communities of Weyarn and Warngau, Valley has not yet launched a flash flood risk management system.

"We have our concept from 2018," says Schäfer, "we're still considering whether such an additional register makes sense for us."

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Even if there are now some early warning systems, "such very local heavy rain events can hardly be predicted in a targeted manner," believes the mayor.

The community will do their homework on flood protection.

"Ultimately, however, every citizen is required to protect themselves well."

Stürzlham (municipality of Weyarn) was also severely affected by the heavy rain on July 26, 2021.

© Archive tg

Weyarn works on flash flood risk management

A year ago, many towns and villages in the Weyarn district were hit hardest by the storm in the district.

Mayor Leonhard Wöhr (CSU) showed shocking cell phone videos in the municipal council ten days later: flash floods over meadows, some more than ten meters wide, water gushing out of gullies and even out of a toilet, and the main road through Weyarn, which is raging flow.

From Gotzing to Großseeham, a line ran through the community, where "pigeon egg-sized hailstones" came down, Wöhr described the scenario.

The hail smashed the roof of some homeowners and the water flooded the basement.

At the Fritzmeier company, the floods penetrated the machine hall, and the fire brigade was able to prevent damage worth almost millions.

The employees in the town hall and the municipal councils reacted quickly at the time.

At that meeting, the administration recommended the purchase of power generators and high-performance pumps as an immediate measure, as well as the application for inclusion in the Bavarian "special support program against flash floods".

The councilors agreed to everything.

The approval for a funding decision reached the municipality a few weeks ago, reports Mayor Wöhr on request.

The administration is currently creating a list of services, on the basis of which an expert opinion is being tendered.

A maximum of 200,000 euros are eligible, 25 percent of which must be paid by the municipality.

Slope stabilization and water drainage

Irrespective of this, the municipality has taken precautionary measures, says Wöhr.

On the Köglberg in Holzolling, for example, by securing the slope, in Pienzenau by additional water drainage.

Last but not least, many citizens would have done something themselves to protect their real estate.

Wöhr: "The population has become much more sensitive."