We are so lucky ...
Flood 2002 in Dresden - Altleuben

On Sunday we were gone swimming in the lake of the Malter dam and the sun was shining most of the day. Our daughters started a trip with a tent there at the small lake "Heidemühlteich". After it was raining very heavy the whole night and the next day, I picked they up with my car in the late afternoon of Monday. 
On this time, the police officers began to close the roads into the mountains "Erzgebirge" and we heard in the radio that the dam nearby was flooding.

In addition, the whole night to Tuesday the rain was running and on the morning of the August 13th, I wondered about a noise of strange traffic in our small street. The view from the window showed me the following:
V

Traffic Altleuben about 7:00 am 

Immediately I moved my car to the parking place of my employer (it is nearby but located in a higher level) and give him a notice of my absence. After this, we tried together to hold the water tide in the basement rooms of our house as low as possible and put all water sensitive things from the basement rooms into higher floors. 

On this time at the street it looks like this:

Crossing Altleuben / Lilienthalstr. / Hertzstr. about 1:00 pm

However, it was not successful. The water from the canalisation was pushed backward through the drain into the washhouse. A short time it was possible to hold the tide by a bucket brigade of all residents and an electrical pump. Nevertheless, than the power supply was shut down for safety reasons and the basement rooms were filled up.

The stairway to the 
washhouse
is filled up

 

A dam built by use of 
sand filled garbage bags 
has good results 
and banns the water 
from the yard >>>

 

It is strange if there are no other possibilities as to show what takes place. Moreover, without electrical power supply nothing works - no heating, no warm water, no phone, no Internet, no TV, no Video. However, the "cinema" outside was much more interesting as any thriller. And suddenly you are interested in water tide messages!

At the town hall Leuben only bicycles have a chance

By the way, we are lucky - the flood in our street was only caused by a small brook called Lockwitzbach, which was flooded in result of the rain before. Next day the street was dry. The outcome for us was the sludge inside the basement rooms, a little bit bulky refuse and the memories about a day without electrical power supply.

Once more, we are lucky! In the following high flood from the river Elbe we were not involved. That is in different to some colleagues, friends, and other inhabitants of Dresden who got an important damage.

Unpleasant:
the thin film of
oil on the water
surface

 

(c) 2002 J.Rost Dresden

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