New flood portal: How to secure your home in NRW!

New flood portal: How to secure your home in NRW!

From April 25, 2025, a new online portal is available in the district of Euskirchen and all over North Rhine-Westphalia, which enables residents to check the flood risk for their own address. This initiative, which was developed by the North Rhine-Westphalian state government in cooperation with water management associations, is intended to offer a quick and uncomplicated procurement of information regarding the risk situation. By entering the address on the website www.hochwasser-app.nrw , users can simulate different scenarios of heavy rain and flood and thus see which surfaces could be flooded and how high the water could be at the respective address.

The platform offers detailed 3D views of the residential property for a comprehensive risk assessment. The risk determination takes place via a traffic light system, which clearly shows the risk of the property or the property. Users also find background information on relevant danger potential through heavy rain, sewer backlog, river flood and ground water. Many municipalities, such as the city of Schleiden, complement the offer with additional information, such as by contact details of contact persons and municipal heavy rain hazards.

cooperation and modern technologies

The introduction of this portal is part of the broader strategy of the ministries for homeland, municipal, construction and digitization as well as the Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport in North Rhine-Westphalia to strengthen heavy rain and flood protection. As part of these efforts, the “Flood Check App” was also introduced, which pursues a similar goal. This app is currently available in cities such as Bochum, Bottrop, Essen, Gelsenkirchen and Herne. Users can determine their flood risk by entering their residential address and answering questions about the structural quality.

The FloodCheck app provides water level forecast for three scenarios for each address and offers information on structural property protection measures and regional advice. The app is available free of charge in the corresponding app stores for iOS and Android and uses public data, including heavy rain-throat cards and flood hazard cards. A cooperation agreement with the Emscher cooperative and the Lippenverband was signed on October 16, 2024 to further improve regional flood protection.

background and context

The need for such measures was particularly evident in July 2021, which was affected by the heavy rain and flood disaster, which affected almost half of the cities and municipalities in NRW. By September 30, 2024, a total of 839 million euros have been approved for private households and companies, of which 686.6 million euros have already been paid out. These financial means support the preparation and development of digital solutions for disaster protection.