Rhine flood in 1993

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The 1993 Rhine flood (also known as the Christmas flood ) was a century flood of the Middle Rhine and Lower Rhine , as well as other tributaries (including the Moselle , Nahe , Neckar ) in southwest Germany in December 1993 and January 1994.

weather condition

Level marks in Koblenz with the record level of 1993

As early as September and October 1993, above-average amounts of precipitation fell. During the mostly dry but cool November, only a small amount of evaporation occurred. At the beginning of December 1993 there was prolonged, abundant rainfall in the catchment area of ​​the Rhine when a south-westerly current determined the weather, so that the soil could no longer absorb any more water. Further precipitation between December 19 and 21 mainly led to surface water runoff. Between December 7th and 20th, around 200% of the long-term mean precipitation fell in December.

course

Rhine

The flood on the Rhine only became noticeable from the mouth of the Neckar. The section of the Upper Rhine in front of it was not affected by a major flood. Due to the flooding of the Neckar, the level of the Rhine developed into a 10-year flood. The Main did not flood. Due to the inflow of the Nahe with an extreme flood from Bingen , a 25-year flood developed. The tributary of the Moselle, the apex of which reached Koblenz on December 23rd, met the apex of the Rhine at the same time. In Koblenz, the Rhine level rose to 9.52 meters (the highest level since 1784 at 10.20 m) and a quarter of the core city area was under water. The highest water level of the 20th century was measured in Bonn on December 25, 1993 at 10.13 meters. In Bonn, the construction site of the Schürmann building was full, causing building damage worth millions. At the Cologne gauge , the flood on December 24, 1993 was 10.63 meters below the Rhine flood of 1926. Since Cologne was only protected up to a water level of 10.00 m on the left bank of the Rhine and Rodenkirchen was only protected up to about 8.40 m In contrast to Cologne on the right bank of the Rhine, which was protected up to a water level of 11.00 m, including the use of mobile sheet pile walls , parts of the old town and the southern part of the city and many parts of the city close to the Rhine, such as Rodenkirchen in the south or Kasselberg in the north, were partially flooded . In total, well over 100,000 people were directly affected by the floods in Cologne alone.

Flood in the old town of Koblenz

Moselle

Trier, which lies after the confluence of the Moselle, Saar and Sauer rivers , recorded a water level of 11.40 m on December 22nd. The highest flood to date was measured on the Sauer. The highest flood since 1784 was measured on the lower Moselle. In Bernkastel-Kues , the Moselle bridge was closed due to the risk of collapse. In a second flood wave on January 8, the level in Trier rose again to 9.40 m.

Near

There was also a flood of the century on the Nahe. It reached its apex on December 21, 1993. Between December 20, 1993 at 6:00 p.m. and December 21, 3:00 p.m., the level of the Nahe in Bad Kreuznach rose to a level of 5.75 m to 8.39 m, exceeding that of the flood of the century in 1918.

consequences

The total damage from the Rhine flood in 1993 was estimated at 400–500 million euros. After the highs had already returned in 1995, the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse intensified their cooperation with each other and with France in order to implement a flood protection program a. provided for the construction of polders and retention basins.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The Christmas flood of the Rhine in 1993. Retrieved on February 3, 2017 .
  2. ↑ State Office for Water Management Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): The flood in December 1993 / January 1994 . May 1994, p. 113 .
  3. ↑ City of Bad Kreuznach (Ed.): THE CENTURY HIGHWATER 1993 IN BAD KREUZNACH . Bad Kreuznach 1994, p. 31 .