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Task Force Eifel Floods 2021

Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium were hit by an extreme rainfall event in July 2021 leading to record-breaking peak flows at many gauges with estimated damage in the order of EUR 30 billion for Germany alone. In addition to the meteorological and hydrological dimensions of the flood, the concurrent coupling of landscape elements and the wood, sediment and debris carried by the fast-flowing water made this flood so devastating and difficult to predict. The flood event of July 14 caused flooding, flash floods and landslides in large parts of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. In these two states, 185 people lost their lives, two people are still missing, and infrastructure and thousands of buildings were destroyed or damaged.

In October 2021, NatRiskChange doctoral researchers and PIs from the University of Potsdam, the GFZ and the Free University Berlin initiated a Task Force on the flood event in July 2021. They worked on five different topics in different working groups, including hydrology, meteorology, geomorphology, impacts and flood warning.

Output by the Task Force Working Groups

Hydrology

Meteorology

Geomorphology

Impacts

Flood warning