Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-7
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-7
18 Feb 2022
 | 18 Feb 2022

More than heavy rain turning into fast-flowing water – a landscape perspective on the 2021 Eifel floods

Michael Dietze, Rainer Bell, Ugur Ozturk, Kristen L. Cook, Christoff Andermann, Alexander R. Beer, Bodo Damm, Ana Lucia, Felix S. Fauer, Katrin M. Nissen, Tobias Sieg, and Annegret H. Thieken

Abstract. Rapidly evolving floods are rare but powerful drivers of landscape reorganisation that have severe and long lasting impacts on both the functions of a landscape’s subsystems and the affected society. The July 2021 flood that particularly hit several river catchments of the Eifel region in West Germany and Belgium was a drastic example. While media and scientists highlighted the meteorological and hydrological aspects of this flood, it was not just the rising water levels in the main valleys that posed a hazard, caused damage, and drove environmental reorganisation. Instead, the concurrent coupling of landscape elements and the wood, sediment and debris carried by the fast-flowing water made this flood so devastating and difficult to predict. Because more intense floods are able to interact with more landscape components, they at times reveal rare non-linear feedbacks, which may be hidden during smaller events due to their high thresholds of initiation. Here, we briefly review the boundary conditions of the 14–15 July 2021 flood and discuss the emerging features that made this event different from previous floods. We identify hillslope processes, aspects of debris mobilisation, the legacy of sustained human land use, and emerging process connections and feedbacks as critical non-hydrological dimensions of the flood. With this landscape scale perspective, we develop requirements for improved future event anticipation, mitigation and fundamental system understanding.

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

02 Jun 2022
More than heavy rain turning into fast-flowing water – a landscape perspective on the 2021 Eifel floods
Michael Dietze, Rainer Bell, Ugur Ozturk, Kristen L. Cook, Christoff Andermann, Alexander R. Beer, Bodo Damm, Ana Lucia, Felix S. Fauer, Katrin M. Nissen, Tobias Sieg, and Annegret H. Thieken
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 1845–1856, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-1845-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-1845-2022, 2022
Short summary

Michael Dietze et al.

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-7', Anonymous Referee #1, 28 Feb 2022
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Michael Dietze, 14 Apr 2022
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-7', Anonymous Referee #2, 09 Mar 2022
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Michael Dietze, 14 Apr 2022
  • RC3: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-7', Anonymous Referee #3, 23 Mar 2022
    • AC3: 'Reply on RC3', Michael Dietze, 14 Apr 2022

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-7', Anonymous Referee #1, 28 Feb 2022
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Michael Dietze, 14 Apr 2022
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-7', Anonymous Referee #2, 09 Mar 2022
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Michael Dietze, 14 Apr 2022
  • RC3: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-7', Anonymous Referee #3, 23 Mar 2022
    • AC3: 'Reply on RC3', Michael Dietze, 14 Apr 2022

Peer review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload
ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (21 Apr 2022) by Olga Petrucci
AR by Michael Dietze on behalf of the Authors (24 Apr 2022)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (27 Apr 2022) by Olga Petrucci
AR by Michael Dietze on behalf of the Authors (27 Apr 2022)  Manuscript 

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

02 Jun 2022
More than heavy rain turning into fast-flowing water – a landscape perspective on the 2021 Eifel floods
Michael Dietze, Rainer Bell, Ugur Ozturk, Kristen L. Cook, Christoff Andermann, Alexander R. Beer, Bodo Damm, Ana Lucia, Felix S. Fauer, Katrin M. Nissen, Tobias Sieg, and Annegret H. Thieken
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 1845–1856, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-1845-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-1845-2022, 2022
Short summary

Michael Dietze et al.

Michael Dietze et al.

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The requested preprint has a corresponding peer-reviewed final revised paper. You are encouraged to refer to the final revised version.

Short summary
The flood that hit Europe in July 2021, specifically the Eifel, Germany, was more than a lot of fast flowing water. The heavy rain that fell during the three days before also caused slope to fail, recruited tree trunks that clogged bridges and routed debris across the landscape. Especially in the upper parts of the catchments was the flood able to gain its momentum. Here, we discuss how different landscape elements interacted and highlight the challenges of holistic future flood anticipation.