As of: February 12, 2024, 2:19 p.m
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A sign with the inscription “Elbe”, taken on the Elbe bridge.
© Sebastian Kahnert/dpa
Five weeks after the first flood of the year, streams and rivers in Saxony are full again.
Some have already reached alarm levels and the trend is still increasing - with the prospect of relaxation.
Dresden - The rain of the past few days has caused streams and rivers in Saxony to swell again.
“The overall water content is high and the soil is full,” a spokeswoman for the State Office for the Environment, Agriculture and Geology (LfULG) described the situation on Monday.
Flood reporting limits have already been exceeded locally.
While the warning for the Lower White Elster has been lifted, one has currently been issued for the Neisse.
“The alarm level 1 at the Görlitz gauge was exceeded in the afternoon, but the limit for alarm level 2 was not reached.”
Due to precipitation and melting snow in the Krkonoše and Isar Mountains in the Czech Republic as well as in the ridges of the local low mountain ranges, the Elbe is also increasing.
Alert level 1 had already been reached at the Dresden gauge with a value of four meters on Saturday afternoon.
The hydrologists at the state flood center expected that alert level 2 at five meters would be easily exceeded on Wednesday night.
This is “nothing critical” and the water level will then fall, said the LfULG spokeswoman.
The weather in the upper reaches is crucial for Europe's fourth largest river, according to the International Commission for the Protection of the Elbe (IKSE).
95 percent of it is fed from the large Czech catchment area of the Vltava and Elbe, and the water arrives in Germany with a delay of several hours.
The most recent Elbe floods around Christmas 2023 and after the turn of the year were higher, reaching 5.95 meters and 5.68 meters - in the 2002 flood disaster it was 9.40 meters.
On Monday afternoon, 4.76 meters were measured at the Dresden gauge, two meters is normal.
At the Schöna gauge in Saxon Switzerland, alert level 2 had already been reached in the morning at 5.01 meters, but at the Torgau gauge the hydrologists did not expect an increase to the flood reporting limit of 5.80 meters.
The water can be distributed into the landscape by then, the floodplains are still absorbing water, said the LfULG spokeswoman.
According to the authorities, at alert level 2 the first flooding of areas, roads and paths may occur.
The Elbe in the Dresden city area has widened to include meadows and paths, the feet of the well-known Waldschlösschen Bridge are surrounded by water and the first Elbe ferry has been taking a break since Sunday morning.
The flood situation worsened somewhat over the weekend.
The warning remains active for the Black Elster; at the Neuwiese gauge it is expected to rise to alert level 1 - but not reach the next highest level 2.
dpa