During the Christmas floods that swept across large parts of Germany, many cities faced the threat of widespread damage. Rinteln, located in Lower Saxony, was one of these places, where the risk of a dam failure threatened the small town. In response, the city received support from the Niedersachsen Katastrophenschutzlager (Lower Saxony Disaster Protection Warehouse) in the form of Haawal flood barriers.
1000 meters of Haawal flood barriers
Concern grew over the stability of a nearby dam and it was feared that if the dam failed, it would unleash a huge flood, endangering the town and surrounding areas. In response, the state of Lower Saxony deployed 1000 meters of Haawal flood barriers from the Katastrophenschutz Niedersachsen inventory to Rinteln.
The fire department in Rinteln received the Haawal barriers in the middle of the night, with no prior training or experience with the system. Remarkably, they managed to deploy all 1000 meters of the barrier quickly and efficiently, demonstrating the system's ease of use even under pressure. The barriers provided a crucial line of defense, bringing peace of mind to the community.
Luckily, the dam held, and Rinteln was spared from a huge flood. However, the minimal resources and effort required to set up the Haawal system proved it was well worth the precaution. Once the threat was gone, the barriers were disassembled, repacked onto pallets, and returned to the storage facility, ready for future floods, either in Rinteln or elsewhere in Lower Saxony.
