Flood / Flood Protection

Floods are natural events. They occur at different heights and at irregular intervals. Floods have always occurred, and we must expect them at any time. The flood reporting service publishes flood forecasts for the waters of Rhineland-Palatinate under www.hochwasser-rlp.de.
 

In order for us to better protect and prepare, we need to know how high the water can rise and which areas may be affected. For the larger rivers in the country, flood hazard maps and flood risk maps are available, which show what can happen up to extreme flood events. These are published on the Internet under www.hochwassermanagement.rlp.de. Flooding can occur not only due to the overflow of rivers, but also during heavy thunderstorms in areas where no one expects it. There are no maps for such possible heavy rain events, but there are hints on how to prepare. (www.ibh,rlp.de)
 

For humans, floods only become a disaster with high damage because they have built into the flood-threatened areas without regard to the risk. In accordance with the current legislation, the Structure and Permit Directorates have established flood plains on the larger rivers in Rhineland-Palatinate, which pronounce prohibitions and requirements for damage reduction, which everyone must adhere to. 
 

In Germany, every person who may be affected by flooding is obliged, within the scope of what is possible and reasonable for him, to take appropriate precautionary measures to protect against adverse flood consequences and to mitigate damage. It is only when measures to protect the general public against flooding become necessary, i.e. when property damage occurs to an extraordinary extent to a large number of affected persons, that there is an overriding public interest in flood protection. Then the cities and municipalities, the districts and the state are responsible. 
 

However, it is important to know that flooding cannot be prevented and there is no absolute flood protection through walls and dikes. Therefore, comprehensive flood prevention is a prerequisite in order to keep the damage as low as possible. For this purpose, the flood-free period must be used.

 

Comprehensive information on flood prevention and flood protection can be found at: