Dozens of people died after violent storms in western Germany. In a small town in the Eifel, houses collapse and people are missing. The situation remains tense elsewhere as well.
Mainz / Düsseldorf – Whole areas have been devastated, houses washed away: More than 50 people died after storms in western Germany. Dozens of people are missing in Rhineland-Palatinate. Politicians expressed their sympathy, thanked the helpers and emergency services and made their way to the disaster area.
The number of deaths was at least 49 on Thursday evening, before the Rhineland-Palatinate Interior Minister Roger Lewentz (SPD) said on SWR television that he assumed nine more fatalities that had been rescued by the fire department.
After the continuous rain, the situation was confusing in many places in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. Rescuers brought people to safety in flooded areas, some with boats. Many sought protection from the floods on trees and house roofs, and rescue helicopters were in action. It is difficult to reach the missing because the cellular network has partially failed, said the Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, Malu Dreyer (SPD), in Mainz on Thursday. “We have never seen such a disaster. It’s really devastating. “
NRW Prime Minister and CDU Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet (CDU) got an idea of the situation in Altena and Hagen. Around 440 emergency services from the fire brigade and technical aid organization and 100 members of the German armed forces were out and about in Hagen alone to master the water masses. Laschet had broken off a trip through southern Germany and also canceled his participation in the CSU retreat in Seeon, Bavaria.
Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) interrupted his vacation because of the flood. The Federal Finance Minister and SPD candidate for Chancellor, together with Dreyer, got an idea of the situation in the disaster area. He was struck by the “tremendous destruction that nature has caused”. But this natural disaster “certainly has something to do with” the fact that climate change is advancing at a rapid pace, he said. The Green Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock also returned prematurely from vacation.
The water masses in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) promised support to those affected. “These are horrific days for the people in the floodplains. My thoughts are with you. ”You could trust that all the forces of the state would do everything possible to save lives, avert dangers and alleviate hardship, even under the most difficult of conditions. “I would like to thank the helpers from the bottom of my heart for their commitment, which we know is sometimes really very, very dangerous.”
According to Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner (CDU), the federal government is planning an aid program for those affected. “As the federal government, we will set up an emergency aid program,” announced Klöckner on Thursday.
In Rhineland-Palatinate, several places in the Eifel were particularly hard hit by the flood. At least 19 people were killed in the state. Dozens of people were still missing. State Interior Minister Lewentz said several thousand citizens had been brought to safety from the floods. The flags at all authorities in Rhineland-Palatinate will be raised to half-mast on Friday.
A caravan is swept away by the mass of water
In debt to the Ahr, four houses were completely washed away and two other houses half washed away on Thursday night, according to the police in Koblenz. A large number of other buildings are in danger of collapsing. The floods cut off several places from the outside world. About 50 people were rescued from the rooftops on which they had sought refuge.
In the district itself, the evacuation of the residential buildings was under way. “It’s about 100 to 150 people,” said Schmitz. “We use boats or, where the current is too strong, we use wheel loaders.” Around 200 rescue workers are on duty. “Plus 60 to 70 people from the city. Anyone who can run and hold a shovel helps. ”In the Eifel district of Bitburg-Prüm, too, people were trapped in their homes by the water masses. The residents of several communities were affected by power outages and restrictions on the drinking water supply.
In Trier, parts of the Alt-Ehrang location as well as a hospital and a senior citizens’ home were evacuated due to the flood. “About 125 people were taken from the home and about 70 to 80 people from the hospital – some of them had recently been operated on,” said city spokesman Michael Schmitz.
Evacuation in Trier
The situation in North Rhine-Westphalia also remained tense. After the heavy rain had subsided, the fire brigade and other emergency services fought in many places with a worsening flood situation. At least 30 people died, as the NRW Interior Ministry announced. 57 people are also injured.
The Cologne police reported 20 deaths in the region. The police in Cologne announced on Thursday afternoon that not all the corpses sighted have been recovered. Two firefighters died in the Sauerland. One of them had drowned while rescuing a man in Altena. Two lifeless people were found in a flooded basement of a house in Geilenkirchen. According to initial investigations, there were two residents aged 74 and 78 years.
The villages of Schweinheim, Flamersheim and Palmersheim were evacuated at the Steinbachtalsperre. The dam was classified by an expert as “very unstable”, said the district administrator of the Euskirchen district, Markus Ramers (SPD), the German press agency. The evacuation affected 4,500 residents. The neighboring district of Ahrweiler had previously denied rumors that the dam had already broken.
In the Rhein-Erft district, a police spokesman appealed to onlookers not to hinder the rescue work. “The current situation, in which many people fear for relatives and worry about their belongings, is not the right time for curiosity,” said Thomas Held of the dpa.
According to the German Weather Service (DWD), the peak of the extreme rainfall in parts of Germany has been exceeded. dpa
