COPENHAGEN, Denmark (CN) — Danes in mainly southeastern coastal areas nationwide are bolstering their houses and garages with sandbags on Thursday in an attempt to prevent possible damage from flooding caused by a storm surge that will occur in the next two days.
On Thursday, the Danish Meteorological Institute issued a warning that the sea between mainland Jutland and the country’s third largest island Funen may see water heights up to 2.4 meters (7 feet) over the usual level.
Waters near the city of Koege located in southeast Denmark, just 24 miles from the capital of Copenhagen, can reach up to 2 meters (6 feet) over the normal level.
Days of a west wind have driven huge amounts of water from the North Sea neighboring Germany eastward into the Baltic Sea. Denmark acts as a bottleneck in this meteorological play, obstructing water from effortlessly returning to the North Sea.
Harsh winds from the east, sporadically with hurricane force, on Friday and Saturday further increased the water level to a height not seen often in east Denmark. If that was not enough, a 24-hour heavy rain shower is expected starting Friday evening and ending Saturday. The weather cocktail can potentially create the worst flooding for the past 110 years in the region, Danish broadcaster DR reported.
“In Denmark, we don't often experience such wind from the east. We are not insured against it. There are not so many dikes, and there are many places where you have buildings very close to the water, which are not very tall. This makes us much more vulnerable,” a meteorologist from TV2 said.
Police departments in south and southeast Jutland advise locals to evacuate areas near shores before Friday and secure their houses and vacation accommodations to the best of their abilities before doing so.
“The emergency services will step in with emergency accommodation if necessary. We have the plans and equipment to be able to cope with it, also on a larger scale, should it become necessary,” said a spokesperson from Denmark’s Emergency Agency.
Copenhagen Airport said that flights risk cancellations and delays on Friday afternoon and evening. Banedanmark, who runs the Danish railways, said it would offer fewer departures and force trains to run slower on multiple routes, writes the local newspaper KøbenhavnLIV.
According to DR, the high water event is not a result of global warming. It is not unusual for eastern wind to collect high water levels with the potential of damaging property and nature. It is evident that waters in the Baltic Sea have risen 15 centimeters (4 inches) in recent years and might continue to do so for the next 80 years, contributing to larger floodings.
In 1872, a hurricane raging through Denmark sent a storm surge of 3 meters (9 feet) that drowned close to 100 people. The natural disaster pulled ships, houses, yards and domesticated animals out to sea and is considered the most devastating storm surge to occur in modern Danish history.
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