Floods on the River Oder (German-Polish Border)

During the middle of May, a low-pressure area over Ukraine lead to a very intense rainfall in southern Poland. Between May 16, 2010 and May 18, 2010 a rainfall amount of 300 l/m² was registered in the catchment area of the Oder (Southern Poland and Czech Republic). These heavy rainfall intensities lead to inundations of the Oder. The flood peak finally reached Germany on May 27, 2010 in Ratzdorf (at the mouth of the River Neisse). Although the flood peak of the devastating flood event of 1997 were not reached, flood warnings (stage IV) and flood protection measures were initiated for the flood-prone areas of Brandenburg/Germany. Dikes are constantly monitored and locally reinforced ZKI provides Flood Maps for German and Polish authorities in the framework of the GMES Emergency Response project SAFER with funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme.