Bundeswehr begin deployment to flood district earlier than planned
Germany's armed forces, the Bundeswehr, are beginning their deployment in the flood area in the state of Saxony-Anhalt on Friday, a few days earlier than originally planned.
The soldiers are on their way and work will begin by midday at the latest, a spokeswoman for the Bundeswehr told dpa on Friday morning. The soldiers are initially set to be be helping in the flood area until January 14.
The spokeswoman said that the dykes were visibly saturated, and they needed to be stabilized.
From Friday, around 200 soldiers will be on site to fill and distribute a total of 600,000 sandbags.
The district had declared a state of emergency on December 30 because the Helme river had flooded.
Around 500 volunteers coordinated by the district were deployed at the beginning of the year as well as several hundred civilian volunteers.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, together with Environment Minister Steffi Lemke and Saxony-Anhalt State Premier Reiner Haseloff, visited an affected area in the state on Thursday to get an idea of the situation on the ground.
Forecasts from the German Weather Service promise relief over the next few days.
According to the weather experts, it is still expected to rain on Friday. From Saturday, however, it will be much cooler, precipitation will turn to snow and temperatures are expected to be well below freezing even during the day.
