The Winter Flood 2023/24 – Behavior of the Population and Crisis Communication: Lessons to Learn

By: Nicolas Bock, Cordula Dittmer, Verena Flörchinger und Peter Windsheimer

Original version (German) published: July 26, 2024

Translated version published: September 25, 2024

Source: DRU

In the last weeks of 2023, Germany experienced widespread flooding, particularly in the state of Lower Saxony, but also in parts of Thuringia, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and western Germany. The peak of these winter floods occurred during the Christmas holidays and New Year’s. While winter floods (e.g., along the Rhine) are not uncommon, the winter floods of 2023/24 were complicated by a combination of snowmelt, saturated soil, overflowing reservoirs, prolonged rain, and waterlogged dikes, making crisis management more difficult (Müller-Tischer 2024). The situation worsened with the arrival of frost after the weather calmed down. While the frost-hardened ground allowed heavy equipment to reach the dikes, the frozen water in the dikes posed the risk of frost breaks, and some of the equipment was partially limited in its effectiveness (Müller-Tischer 2024).

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The #Lioness and the Wild Boar – a sociological parable of disasters

By: Cordula Dittmer and Daniel F. Lorenz

Original German version published on July 26, 2023

Translated version published on July 31, 2024

Source: EleFand🐘 auf X: „Neues Musical in #Berlin, nur echt mit #Loewin https://t.co/rX8hS4vBYU“ / X

On July 20, 2023, at 4:26 AM, the warning app NINA alerted the residents of the tranquil upper-class enclave Kleinmachnow, located in the south of Berlin, with the message: “Warning of a free roaming big cat.” This message was reiterated at 6:07 AM with the statement: “Warning of a free roaming dangerous wild animal,” accompanied by the additional information: “The wild animal is presumed to be a lioness.”

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