Husum, Germany — The storm surge and torrential rain that battered Schleswig-Holstein last weekend drove 7,840 residents from 11 migrant reception centres, officials said, in what they described as the biggest such evacuation organised by a German state. No residents were injured, and the state legislature approved a new emergency housing law on Friday.
The storm, named Hanne by forecasters, brought gusts of 146 km/h (91 mph), 187 millimetres (7.4 inches) of rain in 18 hours and a North Sea surge 2.8 metres (9.2 feet) above normal. Officials began moving people before floodwater reached the centres; several buildings were left surrounded by water.
A move before the water rose
Jürgen Koch, Schleswig-Holstein’s interior minister, said the transfer began at 03:20 on 24 October after coastal gauges and rainfall monitors crossed emergency thresholds. Coaches carried residents to 43 schools, hostels and civic halls, while municipal staff checked names against centre registers and arranged meals, bedding and medication.
The operation relied on a route plan drawn up after earlier floods, but officials had never tested it at this scale. By mid-afternoon, the final group had arrived at a dry site in Kiel. Two reception centres took water into their ground-floor corridors; neither had residents inside when it happened.
“We moved every person before the water reached a doorway, and not one family was left deciding alone where to go.” — Jürgen Koch, interior minister
A law built for the next storm
On Friday, legislators voted 69-0 for the Safe Roof Act, which requires state-funded reception centres to maintain named backup sites, transport plans and three days’ worth of essential supplies. The law also gives local authorities clear power to transfer residents when an official severe-weather alert reaches its highest level.
Eveliina Sormunen, the state premier, said the vote followed days of calls with centre residents, local officials and opposition lawmakers. “We proved that public service can move faster than the flood,” she said. The law takes effect on 15 November, and the state has set aside €42 million (about $46 million) for transport, reserve beds and upgrades to vulnerable buildings.
For residents, the quick transfer turned a frightening night into an unexpectedly orderly one. Violet Salahudin-Usada, who was staying at a centre near Husum, said staff directed her family to a school hall where dry blankets and hot tea were waiting. “People were frightened by the sirens, but the hall lights were on and there was someone ready to help,” she said.
The state administration says the evacuation was the first of its kind at this scale in Germany. Schleswig-Holstein has a long, low-lying North Sea coast, and its reception centres include buildings in areas exposed to storm surges and heavy rain. The new rules apply to 26 state-funded sites, not only the 11 evacuated last weekend.
Officials will publish a list of approved backup locations by 10 November and run the first full exercise before winter ends. The state’s coastal weather office has warned that saturated ground and high tides could bring further flood alerts this season, but Koch said the operation had shown that centres could be cleared without leaving residents to find their own way out.
