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OfAnnette Schlegl
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The city of Offenbach has identified the areas that are at risk of flooding. Every property owner can get the information from the Environment Agency.
It was exactly a month ago when Offenbach was “Land under”. A storm with heavy rain and hail flooded streets, landed house owners and tenants full cellars and the fire brigade 180 missions. Climate change means that more such heavy rain events can be expected in the future – but the city of Offenbach has taken precautions. On the one hand, it has created a new planning guide that shows where endangered urban areas are and which adjustments are necessary to cope with the dangers of heavy rain and heat. On the other hand, the climate function map, which already took the heat and ventilation into account, was reissued and expanded to include the subject of heavy rain, as well as a future scenario for the year 2050.
The two maps are detailed instruments with which Offenbach intends to achieve climate-friendly urban redevelopment. The planning advice map shows the main points for urban planning, such as climate-adapted construction, surface unsealing or greening of buildings.
In the climate function map, which was first created in 2011, the climate data has been updated and adapted to the rapid urban development. The planned building areas were included, the air currents were re-determined, and heavy rain events were incorporated. “We can now react very delicately,” says Heike Hollerbach, Head of the Environment Agency. In 2018, in addition to the position of climate protection manager, the city also created a temporary, federally funded position of climate adaptation manager. David Stoitner will hold it until April 1, 2022.
How residents are warned
How will Offenbach be informed about impending floods in the future?
Via the radio, via loudspeaker announcements from the fire brigade or police, via the catastrophe warning apps Katwarn, Hessenwarn and Nina, via the warning weather app of the German Weather Service, on the website www.offenbach.de and via the city accounts on Twitter (@Stadt_OF) , Facebook (@Stadt Offenbach) and Instagram (@stadt_offenbach). You can also subscribe to the hashtag #notfallof. In 2022 there will also be push notifications on mobile phones. The sirens were dismantled in Offenbach in the 1990s, but the siren warning system is to be reinstalled.How does the alert work?
The fire brigade triggers the warning chain. She is in contact with all the responsible authorities, rescue services, the THW, the police, the press office and the German Weather Service, where flood information comes up with a lead time of several hours.What other disasters are warned about?
In addition to heavy rain, warnings are also issued in the event of plane crashes, major fires and floods on the Main. Internet pages have already been prepared for this and can be switched live immediately.How do homeowners get information about whether their building is at risk of flooding?
You can inquire about this at the Environment Agency by sending an e-mail to Umweltamt @ offenbach.de. There is also advice.What to do in case of heavy rain
Recommendations for action for heavy rain are compiled at offenbach.de/starkregen. A brochure and a flyer on the subject of heavy rain are also available from the Environment Agency. ann–
Property owners who want to know whether their house is in an area at risk of flooding must contact the environmental agency. City spokesman Fabian El-Cheikh said that the maps could not be presented on a large scale for data protection reasons. Otherwise, the homeowners might have a problem getting insurance coverage or the insurance coverage could be canceled.
It is clear, however, that the area around the Isenburg Palace and the University of Design is particularly affected. There the water destroyed a lot of what was stored in the cellar during the last heavy rain. A relief sewer is planned to support the sewerage system in the event of heavy rain. It comes with the dike renovation, which begins in 2022.
The climate function map has been expanded to include the Hafen residential area. “For every single building there is now an opinion on the risk on today’s basis,” says Hollerbach. At the innovation campus – the former Clariant site – and at the Waldhof-West construction area, the focus was on possible flooding.
In Offenbach there are subterranean streams that allow the manhole covers to step up when it rains heavily and ensure full cellars and impassable underpasses. This is particularly the case in the Bieber district, according to Hollerbach. The flow paths and stagnation points were identified with flood simulations and incorporated into a heavy rain hazard map that supplements the climate function maps. “Now we know how to get the water to where it is harmless,” said Hollerbach. It is important to create retention spaces. “Better to have water in the fields than in the city.”
In 2017 the water on Mainstrasse was more than half a meter high.
© City of Offenbach
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