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Due to heavy and prolonged rainfall across large parts of the North Rhineland- Westphalia in Germany beginning of July 2021 rivers flooded, followed by massive landslides. Considerable damage occurred locally with houses, buildings, cars, and bridges being swept away or damaged. Railway lines and roads were badly damaged and left unusable. Damage to sewage plants and water management infrastructure made it even more difficult to control the flood.
Erftstadt was one of the cities worst affected because the Erft River, the Liblarer Mühlengraben, and the Rotbach River overflowed their banks and flooded large parts of Erftstadt’s urban area. Several villages were partially or completely evacuated, and major roads were closed due to flooding and road damage.
Creating a water bypass
Over 10 Hytrans HydroSub 150 systems with FloodPumps were deployed to create a bypass redirecting the water and preventing more damage to nearby villages and the environment. The pumps were deployed over a longer period of time, some for more than 2 weeks continuously.
Additional thread from nearby dam to possibly break
Furthermore, there was concern that the Steinbach dam, to the south of Cologne, may break, resulting in 15000 people being evacuated. The heavy rainfall washed away stones from the dam that settled below the bottom outlet and blocked it.
Only after this blockage was resolved a controlled outflow was made possible. Additionally the German federal civil protection organisation used 7 Hytrans high-capacity HydroSub 150 units with FloodPumps to pump away the water.
