Floating dolls in Kandel: Fire brigade ensures a surprise to the witch night!

Floating dolls in Kandel: Fire brigade ensures a surprise to the witch night!

On May 1, 2025, the Kandel fire brigade ensured joy on the night of the witch's night. Under the direction of Alexander Dietz a boat was discovered in the Schwanenweiher. Dietz himself represented a doll as a military leader of the fire brigade, while another doll symbolized the military director of the fire brigade Wörth, Jürgen Stephany . A speech bubble floated over the dolls with a rhymed text that praised the collaboration of the fire brigades. This humorous prank alluded to the flood situation of the previous year when the Kandel fire brigade supported the Wörther fire brigade by providing material and sandbags.

The prank was no coincidence, because last year the Wörther fire brigade had already planned a joke towards Kandel, which was surpassed by Kandel. Dietz was positive about the creative contribution and emphasized the good cooperation between the two fire brigades.

storm and flood in the community of Kandel

The cheerfulness of the witch's night has often been overshadowed by serious challenges. On Friday before May 1st, the Kandel community occurred violent thunderstorms and heavy rain, which required a large -scale operation of the fire brigades. As The Rheinpfalz were particularly reported, the municipalities were reported, in particular Minfeld and winds affected. The B427 between the wind and Minfeld had to be blocked because the sewage system could not manage the water masses.

Due to the floods, numerous missions had to be completed. From 6:30 p.m., the first emergency calls from Freckenfeld entered into where the streets were flooded. In Winden, about 85 liters of rain per square meter fell in just 1.5 hours, while only around 20 liters fell in Germersheim. In some areas, the water level rose to more than one meter. A resident from Minfeld even reported 20 cm of water in the basement and needed the help of his neighbors and family to pump the water.

climate changes and their consequences

Such extreme weather events are part of a worrying trend. With regard to climate change, the German Weather Service (DWD) found that the number and intensity of heavy rain events could increase. Tobias Fuchs, DWD board for climate and environment, pointed out the importance of these changes for population protection and urban planning. An analysis of the precipitation data from 2001 to 2020, which was carried out as part of the Klamex project, showed that extreme heavy rain events could be more and more intensive due to increasing temperatures.

In the topography of Winden, for example, the settlement in lowering and the high sealing of the areas leads to the fact that surface water runs freely to residential areas. A heavy rain concept is being worked on to improve protection against such weather events. The negative experience from the past, when similar scenes were observed eight years ago, makes it clear that there is an urgent need for action.

The coordination of the missions was praised by the operations managers who attested the cooperation of seven fire departments to over 30 areas of work with 21 vehicles and 85 military members until 2:30 a.m. However, it is not yet clear whether and to what extent damage caused by the storm.