A car washed away by floodwaters rests on a well in Rudersberg, Germany, on June 3, 2024. Persistent heavy rain led to widespread flooding in the southern states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg over the weekend. (Bernd Wei’brod/DPA via AP)
GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — Recovery efforts in the state of Bavaria stretched into Monday following deadly weekend flooding that felled trees, inundated cellars and submerged roads.
However, U.S. forces stationed in the Upper Palatinate district in eastern Bavaria appear to have escaped largely unscathed, despite the widespread damage caused by days of heavy rains.
At U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria training areas, exercises continued as usual over the weekend, Scott Ghiringhelli, a 7th Army Training Command spokesman, said Monday.
Just outside Hohenfels Training Area, 75 miles north of Munich, roads were closed in many directions Saturday as water and earth shifted across pavement, making travel nearly impossible. Cars were left on roadsides, and people took to the streets with shovels to clear debris.
There were over 25 flood-related incidents in the districts of Cham and Regensburg on Saturday alone, an Upper Palatinate police statement said.
Located about 65 miles south of Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Regensburg is a popular destination for U.S. service members and their families. Roads around Tower Barracks remained closed Monday.
A sign by U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria's Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany, on Monday, June 3, 2024, indicates a road closure, which was prompted by severe flooding in the area. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
A road near U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria's Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany, is closed June 3, 2024, after extensive flooding in the surrounding area. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
A U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
As a result of the flooding, two people have been killed, and scores remain missing, The Associated Press reported Monday.
A firefighter was found dead in Pfaffenhofen on Sunday after the inflatable boat he was in reportedly capsized. A 43-year-old woman was declared dead Monday after she was found in a basement in Schrobenhausen, according to the AP.
Over 3,000 people are currently being evacuated, and 20,000 volunteers and first responders have been deployed, Bavarian governor Markus Söder said Monday while touring the flooded region with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, according to a statement from Söder’s office.
“The situation is and remains serious, critical and tense,” Söder said. “Cleanup work is underway, and there are further dam breaches and flooding locally.”
Heavy rains began to fall Thursday as a low-pressure system developed over the southern Alps and moved across Bavaria, Gerhard Müller, a meteorologist from the German weather service, said by email Monday.
Between 4 and 7 inches of rain has deluged upper Bavaria, swelling rivers and sending floodwaters into towns and across farmland.
A state of emergency was declared across stretches of Baden-Württemberg and five Bavarian districts. Heavy rains and strong thundershowers occurred across 17 additional districts.
Stars and Stripes’ reporter Marcus Kloeckner contributed to this report.
Emergency crews work on a flooded federal highway in Ebersbach, Germany, on June 3, 2024. Persistent heavy rain led to widespread flooding in the southern states of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg over the weekend. (Marijan Murat/DPA via AP)
