The braunsbach flashflood of Mai 29th, 2016 - Origin, pathways and impacts of an extreme hydro-meteorological event | Die Sturzflut von Braunsbach am 29. Mai 2016 - Entstehung, Ablauf und Schäden eines Jahr-hundertereignisses. Teil 1: Meteorologische und Hydrologische Analyse

Abstract

The flash flood in Braunsbach in the north-eastern part of Baden-Wuerttemberg is a particularly concise example of the floods in southern Germany at the end of May/early June 2016. The extreme runoff event with great debris transport caused immense damage in the village. In this article, the event is analyzed retrospectively with regard to meteorology and hydrology in order to obtain a quantitative assessment of the processes and their development. For this purpose, rain station data and radar data from the German Weather Service have been analyzed, maximum discharge volumes during the event have been estimated and hydrographs of nearby gauging stations have been evaluated. The results show that this was a very rare rainfall event with extreme intensities, which in combination with catchment properties led to extreme runoff. Due to the complex processes and their interaction with each other, no single flood cause can be identified, since only an interplay of these can lead to such an event.