How Flood-Proof is Berlin?

The city is famously built on swampy land at the confluence of multiple rivers. But its geography is actually key to its protection

Flooded Franciscan monastery complex in Kłodzko, Poland. This image was taken on the 15 September, 2024 during flooding caused by Storm Boris. Photo credit: Jacek Haliki, published via Creative Commons license CC BY-SA 4.0 and Wikimedia.

Watching news reports of the devastating floods in the southeastern United States and in Valencia, Spain made me wonder about our risk level here.

I would have expected mountain communities in western North Carolina—where I have several friends and family members—to be the last place affected by hurricane-spawned flooding.

We live in a ground floor apartment in Berlin, a city built on a swamp at the confluence of two large rivers and known for its flat terrain and high water table. What is our risk if a severe weather event were to dump a year’s worth of rain in a day—the way that it happened in Spain?

My research turned up some surprising answers.

Historically, experts say Berlin has not had a problem with flooding thanks to a number of geographic factor…