Woken up by Emergency Alert App

Last night our Emergency Alert App started wailing and woke me up. The very first time that I heard it was on 22nd December when a massive storm flood was going to hit the coast where my parents live. In the first moment I didn't even realise what kind of sound it was and why my silenced smartphone went mad. The message became rapidly clear: Leave the area if possible and don't go there. My parents said, that it would be more dangerous to go out into the storm than staying in the house. Unless a dyke would breach they said that they are safe. They were right.

But with that storm strong rains set in, which hit us. Since the 22nd the emergency alert app is wailing several times a day. A friend of mine up in the nearby mountains shot photos and videos of the hover dams up there yesterday. She made a comparison, but early this year these two hover dams were close to dried out. We had some years of drought and when I have been there in February or March I have been seriously worried that we run out of water this year.

The summer, however, was crazy. Like in the tropics it was warm or hot, but it rained so much with heavy thunderstorms, that the dams came close to their maximum level.

Now, the water management tries to control the water intake and already opened the flood gates of the dams days ago. Nevertheless the dams kept filling up and reached the spillways yesterday. Like I have never seen the hover dams as low as early this year I have never seen them as filled as now. This is mind-blowing crazy.

We are high enough to be safe, but my 24-year-old and his family, my in-laws, nieces and nephews, good and loved friends, my colleagues and my working place are in the way of the incoming flood along the rivers in the lower parts.

It might not be as catastrophic as it is in Australia, but it is no fun either.

** Update

Another friend in the mountains lives like 500 m uphill from a third dam. She sent me an article from her newspaper today morning. In the picture you see the water pouring out through the flood gates Her dam is at a level of 92,42% now, because it didn't rain tonight. Usually the dams should be around 75% to provide enough supply of our drinking water, and to have a reserve for regulating potentially floodings down here. The water management says, that every new drop of rain would be too much for the three dams. But rain is announced in the weather forecast.

** Update

Here we are: it's raining cats and dogs 🌊.