German town sees worst flooding in 500 years

Large areas of central Europe are experiencing their worst flooding in decades after heavy rainfall last week pushed rivers beyond their banks.

Southeastern Germany and southwestern Czech Republic and Austria have been hardest hit.  We are up on the Main river (Frankfurt am Main) at about the NW corner of the box with 'Passau" in it on this map.
The Main River has sloshed out of it's banks, but only up onto the park and sidewalks lining the river.  The city itself is up about 12 feet higher.  Boat traffic has been stopped as they cannot get under the bridges.

16th C homes: worst flooding since they were built!

Definite problems for farmers later this summer.

At least 12 people have died across Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic, and thousands were forced to evacuate their inundated homes.

Red Cross rescuing people in Passau, Germany

Hope they have some food storage.

The Autobahn: cars are NOT speeding there today.  'Ausfahrt' means 'Exit.' 

This is Passau normally, so you can see why it flooded.  The Dom (cathedral) is the home to the 

largest church organ in the world, with 17774 pipes and 233 registers, is high enough that it did not flood - yet. 

Passau: confluence of the Danube, Ilz and Inn Rivers
You can see where the river bank is by where the cruise ships are anchored.

In Passau, Germany – along the confluence of the Danube and Inn rivers – floodwaters rose to their highest levels in over 500 years. The city declared a state of emergency after swollen rivers cut off outside road access. Hundreds of soldiers from the German army are being sent to flooded areas in southeastern Germany to provide disaster relief.

In the Czech Republic, the country is on high alert for its most severe flooding since at least 2002. Authorities closed the iconic Charles Bridge in Prague, where the Vltava River is flowing at 10 times its normal volume through the Czech capital, writes the BBC.

The Bells, our Humanitarian couple in the Czech Republic, are helping the stakes there coordinate the clean up efforts.  The Church has purchased shovels, bags, boots and other clean-up tools.  You may soon be seeing yellow 'Helping Hands' vests in photos from Prague.

This statue was almost completely covered before the waters quit rising.

I guess if your truck gets stuck in the flood, you might as well just go with the flow.  These swings - big disks of trampoline fabric - are in a lot of Frankfurt's parks: entire families can get on at the same time.

Rainfall amounts

Germany’s national weather service reports that southern and eastern Germany experienced near uninterrupted rainfall since Thursday of last week.

The village of Aschau, Bavaria recorded an impressive 405.1 mm of rainfall (15.9 inches) in just four days, of which 6.71” fell in 24 hours. Several new precipitation records were set, including:

§  A monthly record of 157 mm (6.2”) in Hamburg

§  A daily rainfall maximum of 97.3 mm (3.8”) on May 26 in St. Englmar, Bavaria

§  Germany’s second wettest May since 1881

Rainfall has been equally relentless in neighboring Austria, sending torrents of runoff through Alpine streams and rivers. Salzburg, one of the rainiest cities last month, received 259 mm (10.2”) of rain, according to Austria’s meteorological service (ZAMG).

In a press release, the Austrian weather service says that May saw twice the normal monthly precipitation in most of the country’s nine provinces. Nationally, May 2013 ranked among the top 3 wettest Mays in 156 years of records (alongside 1962 and 1965).