| Part of2024 European floods | |
 Flooding atMarbach am Neckar on 3 June | |
| Date | 30 May – 13 June 2024 |
|---|---|
| Location | Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg |
| Type | Heavy rainfall, Dam failure |
| Deaths | 9 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 1 |
| Missing | 1 |
| Property damage | €2.2 billion (insured damage) |
| Displaced | 3,000+ |
In 2024,Germany experiencedflooding. In particular, in June 2024, significant flooding struckSouthern Germany, leading to the death of 6 people and thefailure of several dams in the region, requiring the evacuation of several municipalities and rescue missions.[1]
On 2 May, slowly moving thunderstorms caused flooding in several places. In Hausen, a man died in a cellar.[2]
On 17 May 2024, floods and landslides occurred inSaarland after over 100 liters of rain per square meter came down in less than 24 hours. Evacuations in the region were required.[3] A woman in Saarbrücken was injured during an evacuation and later died.[4]Ottweiler was inundated after a nearby dam broke.[5] A red cross member died shortly after a rescue operation from heart failure.[6]
Insured damage in Saarland andRheinland-Pfalz was estimated to be at least 200 Million Euros.[7]
In June 2024, significant flooding struck Southern Germany, striking the most inBaden-Württemberg andBavaria. Dozens of villages had to be evacuated across Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria due to the straining and potential failure of several dams and dykes caused by the persistent heavy rainfall.[8] Many places had more rainfall in 24 hours than their whole monthly average, and in many areas, the water reached levels that were present only "once in a century" according to the Bavarian Flood Information Service.[1]
Among the rivers whose water levels significantly rose include theDanube, theIsar, theZusam, theWeilach, theIlm, thePaar, theSchmutter,[9] theRoth, and theLeibi.[10]
An inflatable rescue raft containing four firefighters capsized while evacuating citizens inPfaffenhofen from floodwaters from the overflowing Ilm River, resulting in the death of one firefighter.[11] Another firefighter was missing, as well as a woman in Schrobenhausen which was later found dead. An employee working at an energy company inFreising suffered critical injuries after receiving an electrical shock during the floods.[12]
Nordendorf mayor Tobias Kunz noted that the flooding began to grow into an emergency starting at 06:00 am (GMT+2) caused by overflowing of theRiver Schmutter, requiring the use of 40,000 sandbags to construct a 240-meter-long dike to restrict the flooding. The dam located near aNordendorf school sports field burst, submerging and destroying the €1 million property.[1]
Carriages of a train were derailed by alandslide caused by the heavy raining nearSchwaebisch Gmund. None of the 185 passengers were injured.[13]
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Evacuation and state of emergency declarations were delivered inAugsburg,Lindau, municipalities in theLake Constance region,Memmingen,Dillingen,[9]Neu-Ulm,Kelheim,Straubing andStraubing-Bogen, Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm,Schrobenhausen,Donau-Ries,Unterallgäu,Günzburg,Aichach-Friedberg,Dachau,[10] andDiedorf. In Diedorf, a dam and a dyke broke, and an underground car park and several surrounding house basements were flooded.Wiesensteig residents were told to boil water due to the flooding of water treatment facilities.[14]
On 3 June 2024, rescuers recovered the body of a woman in Schrobenhausen, believed to have drowned while trapped in an apartment basement. Two more bodies were discovered in a cellar inSchorndorf. The highest level of flood warning, at level four, was placed on the districts fromRegensburg to Straubing.[15] In the meantime, heavy rainfall in Switzerland led to rising water levels in rivers and lakes, including theSitter river atGoldach,Lake Constance, theHigh Rhine, and caused overflow at theUntersee andLake Lauerz.[16]
The following day, reports indicated that the Danube's water level atPassau had risen to 10 metres (33 ft), with this increase extending downstream into Austria and Hungary.[17]
On 4 June, a 57 year old woman lost control with her car on a flooded road. She was later found dead.[18] The Falkenstein Castle inUpper Bavaria partially collapsed to the north due to heavy rainfall, causing the evacuation of 50 residents under the castle complex.[19] On 5 June, a 79-year-old woman which was missing since 2 June was found dead.[20] On 7 June, insured damage was estimated by German insurers to be at least €2 billion in the states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.[7]
