The situation in the flood-affected area of Germany’s Saarland continues to improve.
“The water levels are falling almost everywhere and the cleaning work is starting,” a spokesperson for the Saarland Ministry of the Interior said on Sunday.
The exact extent of the damage is still unclear. “We are still investigating and need to get an overview; it will be weeks before we can provide a reliable total,” he said.
In the meantime, most emergency services that had come from other states to provide support had left, the spokesperson said.
In Blieskastel, the historic old town was dewatered using pumps. “The water is still boat high there, the situation is under control,” the spokesperson said on Sunday morning.
One more operation will take place on Sunday in the town of Lebach, on the edge of the flood zone, he said. During the course of the day, a bomb from the Second World War is defused there.
During the day and into the night on Friday, huge amounts of rain caused floods and landslides and it is believed that much damage was caused in the Saarland.
In the state capital Saarbrücken, the city highway was flooded and had to be closed. A coal-fired power plant in Saarland, a western state bordering France and Luxembourg, was also flooded, several media reported.
The Saarbrücken Disaster Management Authority has lifted the major damage classification it identified after the severe flooding. Emergency rescue and safety measures had been completed and water levels continued to drop, the city’s press service announced on Saturday evening.
