Evacuations by helicopter – dams overflowed! There is a threat of a once-in-a-century flood here

The Quirina Depression brings enormous amounts of rain from the Mediterranean Sea to Germany. According to the German Weather Service (DWD), a whole month of rain will fall in the coming hours, especially from Lake Constance through Bavaria to the edges of Thuringia and Saxony – up to 150 liters per square meter!

When do we start talking about a once-in-a-century flood?
In some places there are fears of a once-in-a-century flood. This is a calculated quantity and describes a flood that is reached or exceeded on average once every hundred years. As of Saturday afternoon, many severe weather warnings are initially in effect until Sunday, with some until Monday.

Disaster declared in several districts
The DWD warns of storms on Saturday, especially for parts of Bavaria. The highest warning level 4 applies to Western Swabia, Oberallgäu and Upper Bavaria. The districts of Augsburg, Aichach-Friedberg and Günzburg have been declared disasters. The district office in Augsburg said water levels are expected to continue to rise sharply.

People rescued by boats and helicopters
Fischach was particularly hard hit in the Augsburg district. Here the entire village is completely submerged and resembles a raging river. Some residents had to be rescued from the flood area by rescue helicopter. In addition to Bavaria, the neighboring state of Baden-Württemberg is also severely affected. People were brought to safety here, some by boat.

Citizens must leave their homes voluntarily
In the Swabian district of Unterallgäu, around 150 people were called on to voluntarily leave their homes. About 100 people were affected in the town of Babenhausen alone, a spokeswoman for the district office said. On Friday evening, around 1,300 people in Meckenbeuren (Lake Constance district in Baden-Württemberg) were advised to leave their homes.

Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder and his Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann wanted to travel to the Swabian flood zone on Saturday.

Injured in car accidents
There have been numerous police operations in Bavaria. According to police, several people were injured in car accidents on Friday due to rain on Autobahn 9. Basements and streets were repeatedly flooded. Emergency services and residents of rivers with rising water armed themselves with sandbags.

10,000 sandbags set up
According to the fire brigade, a central sandbag warehouse was put into use in Friedrichhafen on Lake Constance in Baden-Württemberg. About 10,000 sandbags will be brought there from a neighboring district. Hundreds of emergency services from the fire brigade, technical aid organization and the German Red Cross helped.

No relaxation on Sunday either
According to the DWD, thunderstorms and heavy rain are possible from Sunday afternoon in the area between the Main and the Danube, as far as the Munich area – with locally up to 40 liters per square meter in a short time.

Operations also in Switzerland
Heavy rainfall also led to numerous floods, landslides and flooded cellars in Switzerland. The flood situation was tense. By Saturday morning, the Zurich fire brigade had to be called out 200 times due to water in buildings or flooded streets. In the canton of Thurgau, the police initially registered more than a hundred reports of damage. In the canton of St. Gallen, the emergency call center coordinated approximately 90 fire brigade operations. Several cellars were also flooded in the canton of Zug.