swood

Hi all
My husband & I leave Australia in two weeks for a driving holiday starting in the Bavarian Alps. Does anyone know of any websites that would provide details of roads/towns that are unpassable/isolated due to the flooding?
Many thanks
Sue

Intrepid1

I would honestly hope that in TWO weeks the effects of any flooding would have dissipated.

BTilke

Well, Intrepid, your hopes alone aren't going to repair the washed out roads, flooded buildings, broken dams, damaged railways and battered bridges. If you really think the effects of this flooding will have disappeared in two weeks, you don't know much about severe floods!
Swood, your best bet for news is to keep checking the Deutsch-Welle web site.
Current story:
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,...es-eng-566-rdf

So far the hardest hit areas are in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Kempten. A few places are completely cut off. Train service in and out of Munich is reported to be "crippled" and while one hopes that damage to major lines will be repaired within two weeks, some of the smaller routes will probably still have problems. Some roads are completely washed out by flooding and mudslides, so next week, check your driving routes with the hotels where you plan to syay--they should be able to tell you which roads are still damaged.

If your German is pretty good, you could also do a google search with some specific town names+hochwasser (flood). Example: Burghausen+hochwasser

Although the worst is supposed to be over, more rain is expected Thursday (we are getting some heavy rain right now in the UK and this system will be heading southeast).

Good luck! We will be in the Austrian Tirol and eastern Bavaria at the end of September

swood

BTilke your post was most appreciated, thanks. Have checked the story and will take your advice on contacting our hotels. We head straight out of Munich on 12 Sept to Hallstatt and then take about another 7 nights to slowly head across the Alps to Lindau. Ironic that we are sitting here in Oz in the middle of what's being suggested as the worst drought ever here. Cheers!

BTilke

Just watched the "in-depth" flood report on DW TV. With any luck, Bavaria may recover fairly quickly, but only in comparison with central Switzerland and Austria's Vorarlberg. However, a few towns in Bavaria, Bad Tolz and Eschenlohe (sp?) are having a very tough time. Authorities are also paying very close attention to towns along the Danube, which is rising rapidly.
(We drove over the Donau near Passau a day before the 2002 floods hit and were shocked at how high and fast the waters were.)
In Austria, the Vorarlberg has lost most of its phone transmission lines and Innsbruck is fighting the floods--they had to evacuate a hospital.
Anyway, your hotels will probably be your best source of info about your specific driving routes. The DW site also has news videos you can watch online, which may help with your plans.

Intrepid1

Thank you. BTilke for reassuring us that "Bavaria may recover very quickly"..always good to be POSITIVE, don't you agree?

Geordie

swood - a drought in Australia - that's what I thought until I went last month to the Gold Coast and I had to cancel my hotel due to the roads flooding

I'm in Munich at the moment and the weather has been bleak, with them saying its the worst summer in the last 100 years. Its cold and wet but the temperatures are due to rise with less rain due.

Geordie

BTilke

Intrepid, have you always been in the habit of taking quotes out of context (and INACCURATELY as well)?
I said Bavaria may cover FAIRLY quickly, not VERY quickly and ONLY in comparison with central Switzerland and parts of Austria.
Intrepid, unless you have something helpful to say, find another outlet for your chronic dyspepsia.