Flooding of the river Elbe in Germany

After the devastating flooding in August 2002, the Elbe region in Saxony was affected by a flood once again. Strong rainfalls in conjunction with snowmelt in the Krkonose Mountains (Czech Republic) led to a rise of the Elbe River to a level of 7.45 meters. In the city of Dresden, some areas next to the river had to be evacuated. Alongside the Elbe, whole districts of several towns were flooded. In four Saxony counties, disaster alarm was raised. Numerous helpers of the military, the German governmental disaster relief organization (THW), and the German Livesaving Organisation (DLRG) were on duty in the crisis region. Within the scope of the International Charter Space and Major Disasters, DLR prepared satellite image maps of the region. The Charter was triggered by the German Joint Information and Situation Centre (GMLZ) in order to support the State of Saxony's relief efforts. Furthermore, the DLR maps were generated in the context of RISK-EOS, a European network of service providers in geoinformation, which had been created to support the actors of disaster management. The image on the right shows footprints ofthe maps along the river Elbe.