Dresden provides real-time information on water volumes

From now on, the city of Dresden will provide real-time information on heavy rainfall and the amount of water in flood retention basins. Specifically, this involves selected measuring points of the state capital, the Free State of Saxony and the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration, the city administration announced. In addition to the Elbe, Weißeritz and Lockwitzbach, this also includes smaller bodies of water such as the Prießnitz, Kaitzbach and Lotzebach.

"The colors, ranging from green to orange to red, make it possible to immediately recognize when threshold values have been exceeded," it said. "Especially those who have already been affected by flooding can take precautions in good time based on their own local experience," explained René Herold, Head of the Environmental Agency. Heavy rainfall directly over the city in particular leaves little time to act.

"We remember the images from Valencia last year. That's why we have also provided a map in the themed city map that shows flooding that could occur in the event of extreme heavy rainfall, such as that which fell in the Ahr valley in 2021," emphasized Herold. The measuring points are equipped with automatic probes and transmit the values to the city's database by radio.