Flood risk in Brandenburg: 14,000 addresses threatened!

Flood risk in Brandenburg: 14,000 addresses threatened!

A recently published study by German Environmental Aid (DUH) makes it clear that many federal states in Germany are not adequately protected against floods. The situation is particularly alarming in Brandenburg, where around 6.2 percent of the state's area is exposed to a very high risk of a once-in-a-century flood. This affects around 14,000 residential addresses in this federal state, as [rbb24](https://www.rbb24.de/panorama/teil/2025/07/studie-hochwasserschaeden-hochwaser-risk- Schaden-berlin-brandenburg.html) reports. North Rhine-Westphalia is also particularly vulnerable, with a risk of 6.8 percent, which would represent one of the highest risks in Germany.

What does that mean specifically? The term “flood of the century” describes a flood discharge that is statistically reached or exceeded once every 100 years. Historical data shows that as temperatures rise due to climate change, such water levels may become more common. There are extremely high risks not only in Brandenburg, but also in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Lower Saxony. Bavaria has the highest risk level with 8.29 points - over 65,000 residential addresses are affected. The DUH sees an urgent need for action for flood protection, which could often be supplemented by nature-based concepts such as the renaturation of floodplains and rivers, as ZDF today adds.

Overall, worrying situation

An overview of the flood risks shows that the risks are high and often very high in ten federal states. Munich and the surrounding area with its numerous residential addresses in flood zones are particularly affected. In Berlin, on the other hand, there are only 151 addresses that are in the danger zone - a comparatively low risk. However, the alarming developments should be kept in mind, especially considering that inadequate protective measures could endanger hundreds of thousands of people. DUH Federal Managing Director Sascha Müller-Kraenner criticizes the current protective measures as insufficient.

The Bavarian statistics are particularly impressive: 4.25 percent of the country's area is at risk, but the majority of the addresses at risk are here. In comparison, the situation is similar in other federal states such as Saxony-Anhalt, Baden-Württemberg and Hesse, but the dangers there are also high in the corresponding overviews, which illustrates the responsibility of the respective state governments.

Climate change as a driver of flooding

There is one central factor behind all of these developments: climate change. According to an analysis by Deutschlandfunk, heavy rainfall has increased in frequency and intensity worldwide since the 1950s. This trend is expected to continue to increase as the average temperature in Germany has been rising continuously since 1881. The warming of the seas not only leads to more evaporation, but also to increased precipitation, which can flood entire regions.

Massive rainfall in recent years, such as that which occurred in the Spanish province of Valencia in October 2024, led to devastating floods and reinforces the urgency of effective flood protection measures. Last year in Germany it became apparent that regions such as Bavaria and Brandenburg were also affected by heavy rainfall. The need to improve flood protection is becoming increasingly clear.

Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke has responded to this and drawn up a new law that is intended to accelerate the construction of dams and dikes. But critics warn that not only technical solutions are required, but also a profound strategy for renaturalizing areas and setting up early warning systems.

The DUH study is an urgent call to finally take flood protection seriously and take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of citizens.