Flood alarm: German environmental aid urgently demands more protective measures

Flood alarm: German environmental aid urgently demands more protective measures

Sachsen-Anhalt, Deutschland - The German Environmental Aid (DUH) raises the alarm and makes it clear that many federal states in Germany are not sufficiently prepared for a potential flood of the century. In a recent report by Borkener Zeitung emphasizes the federal manager Sascha Müller-Kraenner in various regions become. There is potential for significant damage for hundreds of thousands of people if no effective protective measures are taken.

The DUH sees great catch -up needs in flood prevention, especially in the area of natural -based protective measures. Suggestions for the renaturation of meadows and rivers are necessary in order to let water flow better instead of locking it through dikes as before. Here, more space should be given to the water so that the water can be held back in intact forests, meadows and wetlands.

The current risk degree

In the context of risk reviews, the DUH determined that Bavaria has the highest risk degree. Over 65,000 residential addresses are affected here and about 4.25% of the state area would be significantly endangered in a flood of the century. North Rhine-Westphalia is also not well there with 28,000 affected residential addresses, 6.8% of the country area are at risk. Risk management is underpinned by the statistics based on data from the overall association of the German insurers and the Federal Institute for Water Science.

The assessment shows that federal states such as Brandenburg (6.2%), Saxony-Anhalt (5.9%), Baden-Württemberg (4.7%) and Hesse (4.6%) also have high shares of endangered areas. In contrast, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has the lowest proportion of only 0.7% of the areas threatened by a flood of the century.

The influence of climate change

climate change represents additional challenges. It not only brings with him heated summer, but also heavy rain events that resulted in past flood disasters. The Oekom Magazin is important to consider the condition of our freshwater ecosystems, to look at the problem with climate. to counteract.

In addition, the Water Household Act calls for expulsion of flood areas to create and regain retention areas. According to Environmental Federal Agency , various measures were decided under the national flood protection program (NHWSP) to improve flood protection nationwide. This includes dyke back laying and the creation of flood retention areas to strengthen the ecological functionality of the rivers.

The Calculations of the UBA also show that planned measures can reduce flood levels by 10 to 50 cm. An important goal is to raise awareness of the population for flooding and to promote self -provision. Nevertheless, the current situation is still precarious: in 2021 only 46% of the buildings in Germany were insured against natural hazards.

The urgency of measures is obvious. In the long term, effective protection for humans and nature can only be guaranteed by a combined approach of technical and natural flood protection measures.