notamermaid

For your info, here is a newspaper article from 11 December (tourism website). Impending river traffic bans: https://www.fvw.de/touristik/destination/steigende-wasserstaende-auf-dem-rhein-drohen-fahrverbote-239251 "Am Dienstag werde dort eine Überschreitung von Marke II erwartet, bei der der Schiffsverkehr gänzlich eingestellt wird." notamermaid

Thanks. I had missed that. Which corrects my post saying that the authorities did it within four hours. That was my conclusion. The level dropped to 749cm at 1am and the authorities lifted the ban there and then: notamermaid

If I could ask you to look back in the thread a little... But here is also the timeline updated, this is for Maxau: Basically, within an hour or two of crossing the line river traffic was officially banned. Again please check earlier posts. The graph crosses the line again shortly after midnight and as I wrote this morning, the authorities lifted the ban during the night. Which means it must have been without four hours of the river dropping below 750cm. In the graph above that is about five and a half days of no sailing around Maxau. Note that river traffic was not banned anywhere between Mainz and the German border to the Netherlands. I am not sure at the moment how far a ship may have got upstream from Mainz. I do not have any info on the Netherlands. The Basel section was also blocked for a while. Note that traffic is warned two hours before the ban is issued so that a ship can find a place to anchor and everyone has access to the same info I gather from the graphs published online. Newspapers - this time with evidence and without hyperbole - discussed an imminent river traffic ban a good 24 hours before it happened. Hope this helps in addition to RDVIK2016's post. notamermaid

A quick look at the Elbe. Yes, the river is high in comparison to summer but the authorities do not put this in the category "mild flooding". Looks good, in that section. By the way, I do not know the situation about low bridges on the Elbe. I have shortened the timeline so you can see the jump better: Flooding level at Dresden is at 400cm. notamermaid

Regensburg bridge seems to be fine. All sorted within eight hours according to the newspapers. Passau gauge now at 627cm. Much more favourable for passing under the suspension bridge. notamermaid

Happy, uninterrupted sailing for everyone! During the night the authorities lifted the river traffic ban. I had omitted mentioning that the other section around Speyer had already had the ban lifted earlier. So the river is free. But make no mistake, the river is high so there needs to be adjusted sailing, meaning extra vigilance and different speed. This will continue along several stretches of the river. https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/karlsruhe/schifffahrt-bei-karlsruhe-wieder-freigegeben-100.html With the Rhine river still being fed with high volumes of water from Switzerland and Lake Constance and rain coming, the Upper Rhine will remain high enough for the authorities' computer modelling to see the alert status for mild flooding continue at Maxau for the rest of the year. For the next two days we can relax and then we will have another look at the forecast. notamermaid

I have been to Bruges in winter, back in the day when it was not quite as popular as it is now. I loved it. It is an old town like many other in Europe but it is different from "German Rhine valley old". It was very interesting to see the contrast. notamermaid

Advent, Advent, ein Lichtlein brennt. Erst eins, dann zwei, dann drei. 🕯️ 🕯️ 🕯️ It has been a busy week and I am back at the water cooler pre-Christmas-stressed but also refreshed. In mind and soul that is. A Christmas present problem solved, good conversations at work and Christmas market cheer have put me in a better mood overall. And the family Christmas tree arrived this afternoon! As you know from the river threads, I have also been busy reporting on the flooding. It is not good but it could be much worse. The photo I posted in the Rhine thread of the fire brigade closing a flood protection gate in Neuwied made me think. One of those plaques marking the levels of the Rhine there has the date 1 January 1926. High above one’s head. Wikipedia says the level of the water in town was 3 metres. That means it must already have been high at Christmas. With virtually no flood protection the town was very vulnerable. I cannot imagine what it must have been like, knowing that Christmas and New Year would be so interrupted by the river. I have found a nice photo showing the many small boats used to get around town during that time: Fast forward to 1993. In that year we had really bad flooding along the Rhine, it was even a bit higher in that year than in 1926, according to the plaque at Neuwied at least. It was just before Christmas that the level peaked at Koblenz. I remember it well. I was on my way to work. I had left my home during dawn and the train went eerily slowly through a few villages. At one low point in the topography, the train crawled along and there was only water to been seen all around me. That morning I could not be sure I would be able to get home. The line may have had to be closed. But I made it home safely. And at Neuwied? The people were safe, the town was dry as after the terrible flood of 1925/1926 Neuwied got a flood protection dyke. Fast forward to 2023. The other day a lady told me a tennant had complained to her in strong words about the radiators not being of the best modern standard and this and that… Petty details, from a woman who has just moved in and you get the feeling that she will just keep on complaining. While others are struggling to keep the house dry from floods… I am not suggesting anyone make do with a manger, as Mary and Joseph had to over 2,000 years ago. Or live in a draughty castle. We should enjoy our modern amenities and live comfortably. But it is good to remind oneself that we have it good. I hope you all do and that you are safe and sound in a warm, happy home. And if you are travelling right now can look forward to returning to such a place. Have a good week. notamermaid

Maxau gauge has just dropped to 750cm, later than expected. The authorities hopefully will give the go-ahead soon. notamermaid

Maxau gauge is at 754cm. To give you a timeline to work with - I mean just in case it is useful for insurance purposes - here is Maxau gauge: notamermaid

We have a tradition of the Rauschgoldengel (which came from Nuremberg), but I think most people put the bauble style top on the tree. I have not decided on my tree topper yet, I will choose one of the two bauble ones I have got (I may be persuaded to change my mind by the family). Anyway, this year is different as for the first time in many years it will be a real fir tree! notamermaid

To put the improved situation into colours: Much better. notamermaid

Remember the barge called Achim? It broke into and sank in Geisling lock. The investgation has now revealed that the barge was not carrying to high a load so the accident had reasons. I have just read that a barge has hit the the railway bridge at Regensburg. It happened around lunchtime and river traffic was halted. It was estimated that this would continue into the evening. Not sure if things have returned to normal there yet. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge at 601cm, Passau at 657cm. Not far down enough at Passau, but it is looking much better. notamermaid

I remember how happy you sounded after your river cruise last year. Hope this year you are having as much fun and more. Thank you for taking us along. notamermaid

My pleasure. Maxau gauge is at 757cm. Forecast yesterday more or less suggested this for tonight, with the prospect of the level dropping below 750cm. Well, the evening still has a few hours. notamermaid

The Neckar stayed on too high levels longer than expected but yesterday the river traffic ban was lifted. notamermaid

The Danube is still too high for comfort - Pfelling is at 629cm, Passau at 687cm - but overall the situation is easing. It is getting colder again and there is little to no rain. It will get wetter again but more of that precipitation will fall as snow than it did last week. notamermaid

Update. Maxau gauge still too high - 779cm. 750cm forecast for tomorrow evening. Bingen peaked this morning with a good 10 centimetres to spare below the river traffic ban threshold. Kaub peaked just before lunch well below the threshold. Koblenz has also peaked. The wave is just passing through Cologne and the level will fall noticeably there soon. So no further problems of note for the Middle and Lower Rhine valleys from what the graphs tell us. A short video (as always, ignore the German commentary if you wish), just to show you the appealing village of Leutesdorf in flooding. It may look dramatic at first, but it is all standard stuff that people are used to and notice that the buildings are away from the promenade and often have a cellar on the ground floor and people live on the first floor. Their forebears knew why they built them like this. https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/swr-aktuell-rheinland-pfalz/rhein-hochwasser-ueberflutet-promenade-in-leutesdorf/swr-rp/Y3JpZDovL3N3ci5kZS9hZXgvbzE5NzE1MTY When the man and the woman walk through the old gate you can see the markings on the wall, the river can get much higher there. notamermaid

The Moselle has risen again but is not seeing the problems the Danube and the Rhine are having. The level at Trier gauge has peaked yesterday at 620cm. It is back down to 574cm. Contrary to the last wave in November, a river traffic ban was not even imminent . Only problem on the Moselle may be a couple of low bridges, but it is a bigger deal at Passau on the Danube for example. Trier gauge in context with the flooding in November: notamermaid

Bold letters are by me. I am convinced they were aware of the river levels... Just the communication was not there. I hope your family can get some semblance of a cruise and can enjoy the ports they will be able to see. notamermaid

Still touch and go at Bingen for tomorrow, Kaub level should stay under the river traffic ban threshold. Maxau gauge still very high, 808cm. Virtually no chance for river traffic tomorrow. As I have a busy weekend ahead, I cannot say when I will be able to report next. notamermaid

I have just read that Basel Rheinhalle gauge has dropped below 790cm. That means the ban on river traffic in the Basel area has been lifted. Please note that this is only the stretch from Basel to Birsfelden. But this at least means the river level is falling and the volume of water is reduced. There are still some rivers in Switzerland that are carrying a high volume. With nearly no rain added over the weekend things look promising. notamermaid

That is not acceptable in my opinion. The river has been closed in Germany close to the French border since Tuesday morning and it was foreseeable two days before it closed and a given 18 hours before it closed. You may want to - or have done - look at prior posts in this thread. Given the chance it should be possible for a passenger to say no to bussing or at least try to reach them before they touch ground. A personal e-mail is possible at short notice in this day and age. Frankly to be brutal I see the old "Viking-non-communication-trick" potentially at play again. We as locals saw this coming but anyone with knowledge of the river - that Viking has in abundance - could tell also. It is not rocket science to look at graphs. If there was an e-mail saying there will be an "alteration to the itinerary" that may be regarded as okay but I do see room for improvement to informing to what that alteration will look like. Again, headline from Tuesday: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/karlsruhe/hochwasser-rhein-bei-karlsruhe-gesperrt-100.html As regards Cochem Christmas market - I thought all dates were published online as is standard practice latest in summer. Large events dates are normally fixed nearly a year prior. notamermaid

Such a pity. I am bit surprised about operations on the Moselle. The river is high but river traffic is not banned. Is this logistics or did the ship not fit under bridges? The ones on the Moselle are actually not that low in general, Koblenz bridge may be a bit tight. I hope you got to see Trier. Have a good transfer to Paris. notamermaid