{"id":1021713,"date":"2022-07-26T14:24:59","date_gmt":"2022-07-26T12:24:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/?p=1021713"},"modified":"2022-08-01T21:42:51","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T19:42:51","slug":"the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2021 Floods in Central Europe: One Year Later"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"1021713\" class=\"elementor elementor-1021713\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-e777146 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"e777146\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-3c5257a\" data-id=\"3c5257a\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b5c49f3 elementor-drop-cap-yes elementor-drop-cap-view-default elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b5c49f3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;drop_cap&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>In July 2021, catastrophic flooding devastated communities in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, and Switzerland. Western Germany was hit the hardest with over 185 lives lost, making the event one of the biggest casualties since World War II.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-a99f5bf elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"a99f5bf\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ead3c90\" data-id=\"ead3c90\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-02dd577 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"02dd577\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>One year later, communities are still recovering from the damage. The flash flooding swept away homes, roads, bridges, and other infrastructure. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.munichre.com\/en\/company\/media-relations\/media-information-and-corporate-news\/media-information\/2022\/natural-disaster-losses-2021.html\">Munich Re<\/a>, Overall losses came to \u20ac46bn (US$ 54bn), of which \u20ac33bn (US$ 40bn) was in Germany. It was the costliest natural disaster in Germany and Europe to date. What environmental conditions arose to cause this level of destruction?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-66 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-410cc8c\" data-id=\"410cc8c\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7ad8830 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"7ad8830\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/MunichRE_natural_catastophe-1024x576.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-1021718\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/MunichRE_natural_catastophe-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/MunichRE_natural_catastophe-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/MunichRE_natural_catastophe-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/MunichRE_natural_catastophe-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/MunichRE_natural_catastophe-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">(Munich RE, 2022)<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-5286729 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"5286729\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-c31d9b2\" data-id=\"c31d9b2\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-307516b elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"307516b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dwd.de\/DE\/Home\/home_node.html\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"458\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/German-Flood-Precip.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-1021716\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/German-Flood-Precip.png 846w, https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/German-Flood-Precip-300x172.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/German-Flood-Precip-768x439.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">Accumulated precipitation over two days (48h hour accumulation 13  - 15 July 2021) and accumulated over 24 hours for each of the individual days of the extreme precipitation event (Deutscher Wetterdienst, 2021).<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-e4b3773\" data-id=\"e4b3773\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-96ea306 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"96ea306\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>Precipitation and discharge\u00a0<\/h3><p>After two low air pressure systems collided, extreme amounts of precipitation occurred from July 12-15, 2021. This triggered a rapid rise in water level on several rivers in the area and data values continued to climb in the days following. Water level data at stream gauges across Western Germany surpassed historical water level maximums and many stations were wiped out completely. <span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW131312071 BCX0\">Even with stations that <\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW131312071 BCX0\">remain<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW131312071 BCX0\"> intact, d<\/span>ata continuation became a challenge as extremely high water level impacts the accuracy of existing water level-discharge relationships or rating curves.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-178905e elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"178905e\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-f5c99dd\" data-id=\"f5c99dd\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b87cf98 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b87cf98\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>Data challenges during flood events<\/h3><ul><li>Destruction of monitoring stations<\/li><li>Changes in stream morphology from erosion and sedimentation<\/li><li>Translation of water level hydrographs into accurate discharges values<\/li><li><span class=\"TextRun Highlight SCXW132719975 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW132719975 BCX0\">Unknown flow profiles and velocity distributions from changes in flow paths (from <\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW132719975 BCX0\">riverbed<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW132719975 BCX0\"> to streets and forests)<\/span><\/span><span class=\"EOP SCXW132719975 BCX0\" data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-fde532a elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"fde532a\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-a4c215d\" data-id=\"a4c215d\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8942353 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"8942353\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>Improving flood preparedness<\/h3><p>Climate change continues to increase the likelihood of these catastrophic events. A warmer atmosphere has the capacity to hold more moisture causing more intense and frequent rainfall events. <span class=\"TextRun Highlight SCXW201692145 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW201692145 BCX0\">As we experience longer drought periods, <\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW201692145 BCX0\">subsequent<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW201692145 BCX0\"> dry soil and decreased vegetation contribute to quicker runoff as water uptake is less efficient.<\/span><\/span> With this knowledge, optimizing flood warning is essential to protect lives and infrastructure.<\/p><p>In an article from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-57867773\">BBC News<\/a>, Professor Hannah Cloke, a hydrologist who set up and now advises the European Flood Awareness System, stated that the warning system \u201chad done what it was designed to do\u201d but that there were also \u201cbreaks in the chain\u201d of communication that were exposed during the 2021 event. Prof Cloke says Germany has a &#8220;fragmented&#8221; system involving many different authorities in different states, resulting in varying responses. <span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW165150458 BCX0\">Cooperation<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW165150458 BCX0\"> across borders is imperative as water does not care about state or country boundaries.<\/span><\/p><p>As communities continue to rebuild, the United Nations launched the <a href=\"https:\/\/cri.merit.unu.edu\/project-description\/\">UNU Climate Resilience Initiative<\/a>. The aim of this collaborative effort is to improve risk management, community preparedness, emergency response, and sustainable transformation by leveraging innovative technology. As we know, events like these cannot be prevented. However, improving public awareness through enhanced data management can reduce the scale of impact.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-0b470e3 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"0b470e3\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-fc8daff\" data-id=\"fc8daff\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-80cf539 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"80cf539\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>Key takeaways<\/h3><p>Looking to a future with a warming climate, there are five action steps we can take to mitigate the impact from catastrophic flood events:<\/p><ol><li>Implement a flood warning system if one is not yet present<\/li><li>Expand monitoring networks to include smaller streams and tributaries<\/li><li>Break down data silos and data availability with centralized, cloud-based water data management to empower your community<\/li><li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Integrate hydrological and meteorological networks for better insight into the full event<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li><li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Enhance existing networks with modern technologies and data redundancy<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li><\/ol>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-eaaaa0c elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"eaaaa0c\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-1d7245e\" data-id=\"1d7245e\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-889f614 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"889f614\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Interested in improving your early flood warning systems?<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-7499ff7 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"7499ff7\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-557bc5c\" data-id=\"557bc5c\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ed8de23 elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"ed8de23\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/contact\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Get in Touch With Our Experts<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In July 2021, catastrophic flooding devastated communities in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, and Switzerland. Western Germany was hit the hardest with over 185 lives lost, making the event one of the biggest casualties since World War II. One year later, communities are still recovering from the damage. The flash flooding swept away homes, roads, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":1021720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[426,114,319],"class_list":["post-1021713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hydrology","tag-early-flood-warning-system","tag-flood","tag-water-resources"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The 2021 Floods in Central Europe: One Year Later - OTT Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In July 2021, catastrophic flooding devastated communities in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, and Switzerland. Western Germany was hit the hardest with over 185 lives lost, making the event one of the biggest casualties since World War II.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The 2021 Floods in Central Europe: One Year Later - OTT Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In July 2021, catastrophic flooding devastated communities in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, and Switzerland. Western Germany was hit the hardest with over 185 lives lost, making the event one of the biggest casualties since World War II.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OTT Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-26T12:24:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-01T19:42:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/flood-flooding-hochwasser-river-stream-watercourse-intrusion-flow-Fotolia_71050749_L.2016-1024x682.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"682\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Julie Dauer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Julie Dauer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Julie Dauer\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/a4d06468f156c61355a98eb0f8d8c597\"},\"headline\":\"The 2021 Floods in Central Europe: One Year Later\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-26T12:24:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-01T19:42:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/\"},\"wordCount\":577,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/flood-flooding-hochwasser-river-stream-watercourse-intrusion-flow-Fotolia_71050749_L.2016.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"early flood warning system\",\"Flood\",\"water resources\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Hydrology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/\",\"name\":\"The 2021 Floods in Central Europe: One Year Later - OTT Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/flood-flooding-hochwasser-river-stream-watercourse-intrusion-flow-Fotolia_71050749_L.2016.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-26T12:24:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-01T19:42:51+00:00\",\"description\":\"In July 2021, catastrophic flooding devastated communities in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, and Switzerland. Western Germany was hit the hardest with over 185 lives lost, making the event one of the biggest casualties since World War II.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/flood-flooding-hochwasser-river-stream-watercourse-intrusion-flow-Fotolia_71050749_L.2016.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/flood-flooding-hochwasser-river-stream-watercourse-intrusion-flow-Fotolia_71050749_L.2016.jpg\",\"width\":2356,\"height\":1570},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The 2021 Floods in Central Europe: One Year Later\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"OTT Blog\",\"description\":\"HydroMet\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"OTT HydroMet\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ottblog_logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ottblog_logo.svg\",\"width\":176,\"height\":60,\"caption\":\"OTT HydroMet\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/a4d06468f156c61355a98eb0f8d8c597\",\"name\":\"Julie Dauer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Jdauer-150x150.png\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Jdauer-150x150.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Jdauer-150x150.png\",\"caption\":\"Julie Dauer\"},\"description\":\"With a background in Watershed Science, I am passionate about the complex interaction between water resources and human activity. As a Content Specialist focused on hydrology, I have the privilege of articulating the latest developments in environmental monitoring and how OTT HydroMet is playing a key role in protecting lives and the environment.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/author\/juliedauer\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The 2021 Floods in Central Europe: One Year Later - OTT Blog","description":"In July 2021, catastrophic flooding devastated communities in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, and Switzerland. Western Germany was hit the hardest with over 185 lives lost, making the event one of the biggest casualties since World War II.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The 2021 Floods in Central Europe: One Year Later - OTT Blog","og_description":"In July 2021, catastrophic flooding devastated communities in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, and Switzerland. Western Germany was hit the hardest with over 185 lives lost, making the event one of the biggest casualties since World War II.","og_url":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/","og_site_name":"OTT Blog","article_published_time":"2022-07-26T12:24:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-08-01T19:42:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":682,"url":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/flood-flooding-hochwasser-river-stream-watercourse-intrusion-flow-Fotolia_71050749_L.2016-1024x682.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Julie Dauer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Julie Dauer","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/"},"author":{"name":"Julie Dauer","@id":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/a4d06468f156c61355a98eb0f8d8c597"},"headline":"The 2021 Floods in Central Europe: One Year Later","datePublished":"2022-07-26T12:24:59+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-01T19:42:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/"},"wordCount":577,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/flood-flooding-hochwasser-river-stream-watercourse-intrusion-flow-Fotolia_71050749_L.2016.jpg","keywords":["early flood warning system","Flood","water resources"],"articleSection":["Hydrology"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/","name":"The 2021 Floods in Central Europe: One Year Later - OTT Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/flood-flooding-hochwasser-river-stream-watercourse-intrusion-flow-Fotolia_71050749_L.2016.jpg","datePublished":"2022-07-26T12:24:59+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-01T19:42:51+00:00","description":"In July 2021, catastrophic flooding devastated communities in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, and Switzerland. Western Germany was hit the hardest with over 185 lives lost, making the event one of the biggest casualties since World War II.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/flood-flooding-hochwasser-river-stream-watercourse-intrusion-flow-Fotolia_71050749_L.2016.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/flood-flooding-hochwasser-river-stream-watercourse-intrusion-flow-Fotolia_71050749_L.2016.jpg","width":2356,"height":1570},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/the-2021-floods-in-central-europe-one-year-later\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The 2021 Floods in Central Europe: One Year Later"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/","name":"OTT Blog","description":"HydroMet","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/#organization","name":"OTT HydroMet","url":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ottblog_logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ottblog_logo.svg","width":176,"height":60,"caption":"OTT HydroMet"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/a4d06468f156c61355a98eb0f8d8c597","name":"Julie Dauer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Jdauer-150x150.png","url":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Jdauer-150x150.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Jdauer-150x150.png","caption":"Julie Dauer"},"description":"With a background in Watershed Science, I am passionate about the complex interaction between water resources and human activity. As a Content Specialist focused on hydrology, I have the privilege of articulating the latest developments in environmental monitoring and how OTT HydroMet is playing a key role in protecting lives and the environment.","url":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/author\/juliedauer\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1021713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1021713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1021713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1021720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1021713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1021713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.otthydromet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1021713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}