Flood risk on the Elbe: Dresden under warning level!

On January 12, 2025, the About the current flood situation on the Elbe, one of the largest rivers in Europe that rises in the Czech Republic and flows through East Germany and Hamburg before it flows into the North Sea. The most important cities along the Elbe include Dresden, Dessau, Magdeburg and Wittenberge. Current warnings for floods in Saxony are particularly relevant because the level in Dresden is in focus.

The Saxon environmental authority updated on January 12, 2025 at 09:15 a.m. At the moment, the levels with flood registration function do not have any current data, but there was an increase in the water level by more than 5 cm in the last two hours, so that alarm levels 1 to 4 were activated, which indicates a potential flood risk. There are currently no flood warnings, but local floods cannot be predicted by heavy rain.

The highest water level of the Elbe near Dresden was registered with 940 cm on August 17, 2002. The current comparison values show: The middle water level (MW) is 156 cm from the period from November 1, 2010 to October 31, 2020, the lowest low water level (NNW) was 21 cm, while the highest flood level (HHW) has ever reached 940 cm. The warnings in floods are coordinated by authorities such as the federal government, countries, circles as well as the police and fire brigade.