On day three after the devastating floods in western Germany, Federal President Steinmeier comes to get an idea of the disaster. The Chancellor has also announced herself.
Erftstadt – consolation from the head of state, aid promises from the Chancellor: Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is coming to the Rhein-Erft district, which has been particularly hard hit by the flood disaster, Angela Merkel is planning an early visit to the heavily devastated region in Rhineland-Palatinate.
At a video conference with NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU) yesterday, Merkel promised short-term and long-term support from the federal government for the people affected.
According to the Office of the Federal President, Steinmeier and Laschet visited Erftstadt at noon (12.30 p.m.), where numerous houses and cars had been washed away in the past few days. He wants to get an idea of the current situation in the fire brigade control center and talk to rescue workers.
Clean-up work: location confusing
Meanwhile, the clean-up and rescue work in the disaster areas continues. It was still open until Friday evening whether there were fatalities in Erftstadt. “We assume several deaths, but do not know,” said the North Rhine-Westphalian Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU). According to the NRW Interior Ministry, there have been at least 43 fatalities and many injured nationwide. “The situation is very confusing,” said Reul.
After the destructive floods and the flood with at least 63 deaths in Rhineland-Palatinate, the search and rescue work continues there. Thousands of rescue workers are still in the Eifel, where the masses of water devastated entire places on Thursday night. Even more than two days after the accident, people are still missing.
According to the early warning forecast of the Rhineland-Palatinate State Office for the Environment, the risk of flooding has recently decreased. There were only warnings for the catchment area of the river Ahr and the tributaries of the Untere Sauer. The water levels fell, for example at the Kordel, which was hit hard by storms in the Trier-Saarburg district.
362 injured in the Ahrweiler district
As the water masses drained away, the damage caused by the floods to the Ahr and Moselle becomes visible. In addition, at least 362 people were injured, according to police. The infrastructure has also suffered serious damage: in the particularly badly affected district of Ahrweiler, roads are closed and bridges destroyed, and train traffic in Rhineland-Palatinate continues to be severely affected by the flooding.
By Friday evening, a total of 106 deaths were counted in the two federal states and many people were missing. A particularly dramatic situation had arisen in Erftstadt-Blessem southwest of Cologne: There were huge landslides, craters formed in the ground, three residential buildings and part of the historic castle collapsed.
Laschet lamented a “flood disaster of historic proportions”. It is to be feared that the number of victims will continue to rise. His colleague from Rhineland-Palatinate, Malu Dreyer (SPD), called the situation “still extremely tense in our state”. In Trier she added: “The suffering never ends.”
Baerbock travels to affected areas
Green Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock traveled to the crisis areas after breaking off her vacation. As a spokeswoman announced in the evening, the party leader wants to find out about the situation of the people on site. In doing so, she deliberately refrains from accompanying the press or making public appearances. According to the information, Baerbock arrived in Mainz yesterday. She wrote on Twitter: “The conversations are getting under your skin. As before, not all places have been reached, people are further cut off. At the same time there is an unbelievable solidarity to help, to take in those affected at home and to support them.
Federal Minister of Agriculture Julia Klöckner (CDU) told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”: “We know that such extreme weather events will increase. We therefore need appropriate efforts in climate protection – in Germany, but also worldwide. ”The actors in the federal, state, cities and districts as well as aid organizations are“ efficient, but we need a reliable framework for nationwide crisis scenarios ”. It shouldn’t get so far that life on rivers and coasts in Germany is no longer possible.
According to the Greens parliamentary group leader Anton Hofreiter, Germany must improve its climate protection measures. He told the editorial network Germany: “Studies show that events such as the devastating heat waves in North America or the flood disaster in Germany are becoming more likely and more severe due to the climate crisis. We have to saddle up on climate protection in all areas. ”The EU climate package is a good starting point. “Now we in Germany have to step up and take effective climate protection measures. At the same time we need an active precautionary policy in order to adapt to the new climatic realities ”- in other words, more and more ecological flood protection, unsealing of areas and heat-adapted cities. dpa
