The massive rains do not stop: Heavy storms hit parts of Bavaria, Saxon Switzerland and Austria. Chancellor Merkel wants to get an idea of the situation in the Eifel.
Rosenheim / Mainz – First it hit the west of Germany, then the south and east: Flooded streets, landslides, evacuated houses and possibly two deaths – after heavy rain, the Berchtesgadener Land district in Upper Bavaria declared a disaster late on Saturday evening.
Two people died in the flood area. But it is still unclear whether their death is related to the flood, said the spokeswoman for the Berchtesgadener Land district office, Alexandra Rothenbuchner. Huge amounts of rain also fell in Saxon Switzerland.
Dramatic situation in Bavaria
The fire brigade was in constant use on Saturday evening in the district in Bavaria after torrential rain. The situation is dramatic, said a spokesman for the integrated control center in Traunstein. The water shot out of the mountains, at the same time the water levels of the river Ache rose.
The places that were particularly affected were Berchtesgaden, Bischofswiesen, Schönau am Königssee, Marktschellenberg and Ramsau in the far south-east of Bavaria. There the water overflowed in places and flooded streets. Slopes slipped. Individual houses therefore had to be cleared, said Rothenbuchner. “There are always emergency calls coming in,” said a police spokesman in Rosenheim.
Austria also affected
The Austrian Hallein near Salzburg was also flooded after torrential rains. According to the police, a brook swelled into a torrent that evening. Rescue workers used boats and trucks to rescue people who were locked in their homes.
According to the fire brigade, there were no reports of missing, injured or even dead people late in the evening. According to the authorities, some of the water drained away in the late evening.
Merkel travels to the disaster area
In the days before, storms had left a swath of devastation, especially in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. More than 140 people died from the floods. Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) wants to visit the affected areas in the Eifel on Sunday.
Merkel will get an idea of the situation in the community of Schuld, which was hit particularly hard by the storm disaster, said the state chancellery in Mainz. Afterwards (2.30 p.m.) a press statement is planned in Adenau – together with Prime Minister Malu Dreyer (SPD) and other Rhineland-Palatinate ministers.
Floods in Saxony too
After the devastating water has gradually withdrawn from many flood areas in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, the search for fatalities and injuries continues in the rubble. Huge rainfall caused heavy flooding in parts of Saxony on Saturday.
In Saxon Switzerland, several localities of cities and municipalities were no longer accessible. Neustadt, Sebnitz, Bad Schandau, Reinhardtsdorf-Schöna and Gohrisch are particularly affected, the district office informed in the evening. The railway line between Bad Schandau and Dečin in the Czech Republic was closed. “The situation is tense, but manageable,” said the situation center of the Ministry of the Interior in Dresden at the request of the German Press Agency.
300 million euros in emergency aid
Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz meanwhile promised emergency aid in the hundreds of millions. “It takes a national show of strength,” said the SPD politician of “Bild am Sonntag”. On Wednesday in the cabinet he wanted to put two things on the table. “Firstly, an immediate aid, with the last flood significantly more than 300 million euros were necessary.
So much will be needed now, ”explained Scholz. “Second, we have to lay the foundations for a reconstruction program so that the destroyed houses, roads and bridges can be repaired quickly. As we know from the previous catastrophe, it is billions of euros. “
In view of the extent of the disaster, Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek is calling for research to improve precautions against such extreme weather conditions. “As a lesson from the severe weather catastrophe in western Germany, research on such extreme weather events must be expanded in the next few years,” said the CDU politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group. “The aim must be to improve forecasting and precaution.”
Concern for possible further deaths
The focus of the disaster in Rhineland-Palatinate is in the Ahrweiler district. According to the Koblenz police, 98 people died there alone. It is feared that there will be more deaths. “If you see the pictures, how it looks there, you can not rule out that more bodies will be found,” a spokesman had said. In addition, the police were aware of 670 injured people in the Ahrweiler district by Saturday afternoon. People were still missing. The spokesman could not give any information about the exact number.
Steinmeier: Solidarity for victims
In North Rhine-Westphalia, the number of confirmed fatalities on Saturday evening was 45, including four firefighters. NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU), who visited the disaster area in Erftstadt with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Saturday, promised direct aid for the people affected and said that “money would be paid out very unbureaucratically”.
Steinmeier had called for solidarity and donations for the victims. “The willingness to support has to continue, both large and small,” he said. Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has announced that he will be in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate for Monday. dpa
