Emergency services in East Germany are on high alert due to the rising level of arrivals waters of the Oder River, reported DPA, quoted by BTA.
Highest level of alert – fourth, it was in effect in some counties today. Inspectors reported the first leaks in the levees.
Brandenburg state premier Dietmar Wojtke described the situation as serious but under control.
„We are also prepared for things to get worse,” he said on a visit to the city of Eisenhüttenstadt to gain a better idea of the measures taken against floods.
Voidke indicated that the water level is expected to drop significantly from tomorrow evening.
This time, there are no predictions of an extreme flood like the one in 1997, when towns along the Oder were threatened with inundation, because dikes and other defenses have since been improved.
The district governor of the Oder-Spree district in the province of Brandenburg expects the emergency services to handle the situation well. “The situation is tense, but we are calm because we raised the alert level in time”, he said.
Sandbag dikes are being built around houses and several roads in the Oder River area. Emergency services were collecting floating trees from the water, and the river level was being monitored with drones.
Beavers were also a cause of concern for the emergency services in the flood-prone area, as passers-by along the dikes have repeatedly reported damage caused by the rodents. In some areas of the Oder, hunting of otherwise protected animals is allowed.