Germany Experiences Unprecedented Floods
Hundreds of people were evacuated, and a power plant was shut down in southwestern Germany due to heavy rains and flooding, authorities and media reported late Friday and Saturday.
Water levels rose rapidly in the state of Saarland, bordering France; the Moselle region also faced flooding after heavy rains.
The Civil Defense Office in Saarland urged residents to exercise extreme caution and avoid going into basements, especially after part of a dam collapsed in the town of Köllerbach.
According to the German newspaper “Bild,” this collapse led to the shutdown of a power plant in the area.
The widely-read newspaper described the situation as “floods unlike any seen in a century,” with water levels continuing to rise.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected to inspect the area on Saturday.
In the neighboring state of Rhineland-Palatinate, where the Saar River also flows, firefighters urged around 200 residents of the town of Schoden to leave their homes as water levels rose, providing them with temporary shelter in a gymnasium.
Firefighters intervened in several towns in southwestern Germany to evacuate residents due to the risk of landslides caused by the massive amount of water.
The meteorological authority issued a warning for “massive” floods in the southwestern regions of the country, particularly in Saarland, parts of Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, and North Rhine-Westphalia.
The city council of Saarbrücken, the capital of Saarland, asked residents to stay indoors and warned of potential power outages. Traffic was halted on a highway, while hundreds of firefighters were mobilized to assist those affected.
In France, authorities issued the highest level of alert for rain and flood risks in Moselle, with firefighters helping hundreds of people in areas where water levels rose to 40 centimeters.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin called on residents via the platform X to exercise “extreme caution and follow the authorities’ instructions,” who asked them to stay indoors.
According to a statement from the fire and rescue services, the floods and heavy rains affected “around 117 municipalities” in the region.
