River mouth Lippe Source elevation 340 m Mouth Lippe | Length 50 km Source Sauerland Country Germany | |
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Main source Sauerland
±340 m (1,120 ft) | ||
The Alme is a 50-kilometre (31 mi) long river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Lippe, into which it flows near Paderborn. The Alme defines the Alme Valley and flows through the towns Büren, Borchen and Paderborn.
Contents
Map of Alme, Paderborn, Germany
TributariesEdit
Flood of 1965Edit
In July 1965 an extraordinary flood happened which became part of history as a local flood of the century called "Heinrichsflut" (Henry-Flood). After heavy rain on July 15, 16 and 17, cellars were flooded. In the village Wewelsburg a bridge was crashed, pioneers of the Army had to be involved. Streets transformed to rivers, the train and bus traffic had to be stopped. As a result of the flood, which also involved the tributaries of the Alme and the Lippe, the "Wasserverband Obere Lippe" was founded, targeting on preventing future floods by building detention basins.
Flood of 2007Edit
On August 22, 2007 the Alme flooded around Büren, after heavy rainfalls of partly 70 l rain/m² in one night. In the Village Weine the record of 1965 was overflooded. Even though the flood was not as dramatic as that of 1965 the schools in Büren had to be closed earlier than usual, some streets could not be passed. 220 firemen of the local fire brigades had to clear out flooded cellars and to prepare several houses by using Sandbags.