For Ingo: How is Dresden handing the water?
 

I just read that the Elbe is rising fast, a result of warmer weather melting all that snow Germany had this winter.

Just wanted to say I hope you and your family won't suffer any ill effects, and that the Altstadt area is being safeguarded against damage. I would hate for 2002 to be repeated!

Fritzl

Hello Fritzl,

thank you for your thinking of us poor Dresdners!

The Elbe is indeed rising - the meadows to both sides are flooded, and so is the street in front of Brühl's Terrace. Some nice residential suburbs like Laubegast, Pillnitz, Zschieren are struggling with the water and will partly be flooded soon. The old town is safe this time (according to the forecast). The highest level of the river is expected for Friday - it will probably be around 7.50 m, compared to more than 9 m in 2002.

It is worse in the region upstream - Saxon Switzerland. Small towns like Wehlen, Rathen, Bad Schandau and Königstein are already flooded and the river is still rising.

However, I don't think 2002 is going to be repeated this month.

Thanks again,

Ingo

I'm relieved to hear that, Ingo -- though the news about the towns up-river isn't good.

Saaaaaay....do you suppose the Bundesregierung would be willing to pay my plane fare if I let them know I'd be happy to come fill sandbags? :>

Fritzl

LOL! Most unlikely ... the Bundesregierung is on a tight budget (they say).

I'll post on Friday how bad it turned out.

Ingo

Sorry Ingo, but wìth the experiences made why don't you guys build some dykes?
I presume you still want to have a material say in who is being elected as chancellor ;-)?!

Hahaha, hsv, joking, eh?

Dykes are impossible to build in the narrow Elbe valley in Saxon Switzerland. And in Dresden and down the river we go the other way: give more ground to the river. The large meadows to both sides of the Elbe - even in the city centre - prevent from a much higher water level. We will definitely NOT build dykes/walls (like e.g. in Cologne)!

Unfortunately I must say the situation turns from bad to worse. More than 1000 people had to be evacuated in Bad Schandau, the small towns along the river in Saxon Switzerland are all flooded. Urrgghh.

Ingo

hmmmm. Just for the record, I think there probably are some dykes in the Dresden area. But I believe hsv was really asking about dikes.

or is this strictly an English language thing?

Ingo...sorry to have read about the rising waters..hope they recede quickly. Hope you and yours will be safe...and that 2002 heights will not be reached!

Stu T.

And I should have added my regards as well, I got a little carried away with the terminology there.
Dresden has had more than its share of woes. May this problem resolve itself before we get a major repeat of that horrible mess in 2002.

Ingo,

of course I am keeping my fingers crossed that you do not suffer any physical or material harm.

Neopolitan,

my Webster lists dyke and dike being one and the same. In order to clarify I was asking about the option of embankments being built.

Too bad about Bad Schandau. Not alot you can do to hold back Mother Nature in the long run. The levees didn't do too much to protect New Orleans last year. Maybe it would be better to build everything on stilts like Amsterdam, eh?

hsv. I see now in my dictionary it does say that "dyke" is a British variant of dike.
Here in the US, "dyke" is another name for a lesbian. "Dike" is an construction to divert or hold back water.

Google "dyke" and then "dike" if you want any confirmtation.

Sorry, it just struck me very funny.

Neopolitan :-))!

That is indeed funny - and I will remember that and revert to the American spelling in order to avoid misunderstandings :-)

Thanks to all for the regards. We are prepared for yet higher levels and hope to manage the flood well.

I had to smile about the dykes/dikes thing. ;-)

Yes, there are a few (low) dikes (hahaha) in the villages downstream from Dresden. Not in the city centre though.

It is funny to see the tourists standing on bridges and Brühl's terrace watching the flood and discussing and pointing here and there ...

Ingo,

I'm following this thread with interest & concern. I'm glad to hear you're all prepared! Sure hope the river behaves!

s

Thanks s! More in an email later this weekend.

Ingo

Ingo, I assume you live on a higher ground in Dresden as you never mentioned being personally affected in 2002. In any case I hope for the best outcome for you and for Dresden. It would be a catastrophe if all the renovations after 2002 gets damaged again. The online German newspapers & Prosieben on satelite TV stated that Dresden is better prepared this time so the catastrophe of 2002 will not recur. I wonder what they meant by "better prepared", it sounds too much like a typical vague statement made by a cityhall politician. I sure hope it means more than having a better evacuation system.

Thanks DAX! Yes, I live indeed on a hill. So I am not personally affected. My mother's aunt lives in Gohlis, close to the Elbe (downstream from the old town) and was evacuated in 2002. Her neighbours 50 m down the street were evacuated yesterday too. When we spoke on the phone she said that she is "sitting on her balcony enjoying the warm sun and watching the younger folks schlepping sandbags".

The problem in 2002 was that the flood came from one hour to the other and the official "weather frogs" did not realise the dangerous situation. I don't think we could not have done much better in 2002 (except the weather forecast/amount of rain).

As far as I know the officials in the cityhall set up an excellent flood management. They work very efficiently this time.

Anyway, I don't expect huge donations this time, so the owners will probably have to pay the damages from their own wallet - and many won't be able to. Not sure about insurances.

I expect everything being back to normal by Easter. No problems for you.

Ingo

DAX,

just to keep you updated:

the water is gone in Dresden and the region. Streets in Dresden are cleaned and free for traffic again. Everything back to normal except for the few house owners who have to do renovations due to water damages.

The paddle steamers are most likely running from tomorrow on.

It looks a bit different up the river. The ferries are not yet in operation. Hopefully the ferries in Rathen, Wehlen, Königstein and Bad Schandau will be back in operation on Easter weekend, but it is not sure yet.

The S-Bahn trains S1 from (Schöna-) Bad Schandau via Königstein, Rathen, Pirna to Dresden leave 13 minutes earlier in Bad Schandau. They cannot run full speed and have to be right in time in Dresden Hbf. So, if you want to catch one in Rathen be there 10 minutes earlier.

Thanks Ingo, really appreciate your update. I'm not getting any response to my request for a tour of the Glaeserne Manufaktur. My first request was in German and then a second request in English but both were ignored. We may just skip the Phaeton as I realize that perhaps we are just imposing on their factory employees. There are plenty of other things to do.

DAX,

If you special order a Phaeton, they will let you follow your car through the factory as it is being built.

If the factory tour is anything like the BMW factory tour in Munich, you would have to make arrangements more than a year in advance.

I also understand that the VW factory cafeteria in Dresden serves the best currywurst in Germany.

Really Bird? No wonder they are ignoring my requests. Are you talking about the ultra modern cafe Lesage? It was actually our plan to have lunch there after the factory tour.

DAX,

it is a shame that they did not respond to your emails. It made me going there today and asking how this could happen. The young lady at the reception was very sorry and said this is an exception. Hm.

I also asked if tours are available on April 19 and yes, they offered to join the tours at 5 or 6 pm. Since I haven't been on this tour before I took the chance and reserved for 6 pm for two persons.

If you think this tour at 6 pm would fit in your plan I could pass on my reservation to you (assuming it's you and your son, 2 p.). I could go sometime later. My email is ibrenn (at) web.de Or you can call them for reservations at 5 or 6 pm. Tel. is 01805 - 896268

However, it is also worth to go there w/o joining the tour. You can see something of the production and there are also interesting multimedia installations.

Ingo,

I noticed that the Lesage offers a Sunday Jazz Brunch. Any experience? (I'll be in Dresden on Mother's Day, which might make it hard to get reservations.)

If you don't mind, I would like to e-mail you with a few more questions. Let me know if that would be OK. Thanks.

Bird

Bird, feel free to email me with more questions!

No experience with the Sunday brunch, sorry. But you can expect that both food and Jazz are excellent. My colleagues ate there several times on business occasions and were very pleased everytime.

Hello Ingo, I just send you another email. See you at the Weinkontor.