6:15 p.m. | Ticker ends on Christmas Eve
We’re ending our ticker for today. Tomorrow we will continue here with current reports on the flood situation in Saxony.
5:45 p.m. | Floods also in Lusatia
Sandbags are also being hauled in the easternmost part of Saxony. Flood alert level 2 applies to the Neisse and Mandau. Local flooding has occurred, including in Hainewalde. Residents have laid out sandbags to protect their properties, reporters report. The fire brigade arrived to clean drains so that the water could flow out again.
5:24 p.m. | Several missions in the Aue region
The fire department also had its hands full in and around Aue in the Erzgebirge on Sunday. Next to Ricarda-Huch-Straße, the forest floor could no longer absorb all the rain and threatened to run into the residential buildings. As a precautionary measure, some house entrances were protected with sandbags and a drain was cleared of leaves and rubbish.
Meanwhile, in Hundshübel the fire brigade was called to federal highway 169. The rain and meltwater could no longer drain away there either. The emergency services ultimately had to pump out the resulting pond to clear the drain again.
5:08 p.m. | The weather for the coming days
The weather in Saxony will remain windy and rainy in the coming days. Official storm warnings of severe thaws apply to the low mountain ranges and their foothills. There is still a risk of flooding and flooding. However, the flood control center assumes that the Mulde will probably not reach level 4 in the next few days.
There is also a warning of hurricane-like gusts for the Fichtelberg. On Monday night, the initial continuous rain turns into showers. The lowest values are between 10 and 6 degrees. There will be a few showers in the morning, then widespread rain again in the afternoon and evening.
4:54 p.m. | Saxony’s dams are intended to absorb floods
The dams in Saxony are intended to help prevent major floods. The Saxony State Dam Administration announced on Sunday that since Saturday the outflows from the systems have been controlled in such a way that flooding is avoided or reduced as far as possible.
To achieve this, the so-called flood retention areas of the dams and their retention basins would slowly be filled. The water is temporarily stored there and released to the lower reaches with a delay. “In this way, the Saxon dams make an effective and indispensable contribution to effective flood risk management in Saxony,” said Managing Director Eckehard Bielitz.
4:35 p.m. | No more sandbags in Chemnitz
The fire department in Chemnitz has completed most of its operations at the moment. As the city told MDR SACHSEN, the emergency services are currently still on site for a few, smaller operations. The water levels fell slightly, but warning level 3 still applies.
According to the city, the sandbag filling stations of the volunteer fire departments are now closed. All existing sandbags have already been distributed, said a spokeswoman. In urgent cases, sandbags can still be picked up at Fire Station 3, Jagdschänkenstraße 53 in Chemnitz.
4:19 p.m. | Alert level 3 also in Mahlitzsch
The Freiberger Mulde has now risen to such an extent in Mahlitzsch near Döbeln that the state flood center has declared alert level 3 for the place. This means that the second highest warning level applies to the hollow area around the confluence of the Zwickauer and Freiberger Mulde. According to the flood center, it could take until Monday morning for the peak to pass and the water to recede again.