Many helping hands are already clearing up mud and debris. Nevertheless, fearful looks are still being directed at many places. In Bavaria, for example, the risk of flooding has not yet been averted.
Euskirchen / Passau – While there is no acute risk of storms in western Germany for the time being, there are still anxious glances at some places.
Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) is visiting the areas in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate that have been particularly hard hit by the flood disaster and major destruction this Monday. For example, he is expected at the Steinbachtalsperre in Euskirchen, where a dam breach was still not ruled out recently.
Tense situation in Bavaria
In Bavaria, the flood situation in the south and east of the state remained tense, but did not worsen during the night. In Passau, the levels rose into the night, but then remained at a high level.
At least reassuring: on Monday night, there were no more severe weather warnings from the German Weather Service (DWD) in force. The meteorologists predicted that the rains in the Alps would abate during the night. Thunderstorms cannot be ruled out during the day in Bavaria. Overall, Germany is facing a relatively calm period of weather in the next few days with quite dry air.
Death toll has risen
The number of confirmed fatalities due to the devastating floods in Germany rose to almost 160 over the weekend. In the district of Ahrweiler in Rhineland-Palatinate, the police said there were 110 fatalities, while the number in North Rhine-Westphalia had risen to 46. In addition, at least one person was killed in Upper Bavaria. It is the worst flood disaster in Germany in decades. It had rained unusually hard in the middle of the week, especially in western Germany. Many houses, streets and bridges are in ruins.
In Erftstadt-Blessem, according to experts, there is still an acute danger to life near a demolition edge, as District Administrator Frank Rock announced after a conversation with the local experts on Sunday. The stability of the subsoil after the storm in the particularly affected district must continue to be checked. In Blessem, the floods created a huge crater, at least three residential buildings and part of the historic castle collapsed.
Evacuations near Berchtesgaden
In Passau in the very south-east of Germany, the water level of the Danube rose only slightly on Monday night and then remained below the mark of 8.50 meters, from which the highest flood warning level applies. The promenade and parking lots were already flooded, residents protected houses with sandbags and barriers.
In the Berchtesgadener Land in Upper Bavaria, the force of the water had already struck at full speed on the weekend because the river Ache overflowed its banks. More than 160 people had to be brought from their homes to safety in the holiday region around the Königssee, as a spokeswoman for the district office said on Sunday evening.
Seehofer visits, among others, THW
In western Germany, Seehofer wants to get an idea of the work of the Technical Relief Organization (THW) on site. It is subordinate to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. According to the information, the organization has 2,500 helpers in the flood areas to bring people to safety, pump out basements, ensure the power supply and remove piles of rubble.
Seehofer is expected at the Steinbachtalsperre in Euskirchen (North Rhine-Westphalia) in the late morning. There had been a setback there because the water drained more slowly than expected. This Monday morning, experts want to decide when people in the evacuated areas will be allowed to return to their homes. The Euskirchen fire brigade denied rumors about the break of the dam on Sunday evening.
Around noon, Seehofer wants to go to Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler (Rhineland-Palatinate) to visit a hospital. THW has installed a drinking water treatment system there so that the hospital can continue to get the drinking water it needs. This became necessary after the masses of water damaged the pipes in the vicinity of the clinic.
Politics promise support
After Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Seehofer is another federal politician who travels to the disaster area to assure the people there of his support.
Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier meanwhile demanded clarification as to whether the disaster control has worked sufficiently. “As soon as we have provided immediate help, we must also look: Are there things that did not go well, are there things that went wrong? And then it has to be corrected, ”said the CDU politician on Sunday in the“ Bild live ”political talk“ The right questions ”. “It’s not about pointing the blame, it’s about making improvements for the future.”
Civil protection under fire
The head of the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Aid (BBK), Armin Schuster, defended disaster control against criticism. “Our warning infrastructure worked in the federal government,” said Schuster on Sunday evening in the ZDF’s “heute journal”. “The German Meteorological Service gave relatively good warnings.” The problem is that it is often not possible to say half an hour in advance which location will be hit with what amount of rain. 150 warning messages were sent via warning apps. He cannot say at the moment where the people in the flood areas have been warned by sirens and where not.
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) said on the program that one would have to think about how to improve warning systems and how to reach those who do not have an app. Also with the coordination of the disaster relief “there is probably still a lot to do”. However, the minister refused to centralize civil protection in Berlin.
Theurer: “Considerable system failure”
FDP parliamentary group vice Michael Theurer, however, sees serious failures in civil protection. “The timely warnings of the meteorologists have not been adequately communicated to the citizens either by the authorities or by public service broadcasters,” said Theurer of the German Press Agency. “The picture is of a considerable system failure for which the Federal Minister of the Interior Seehofer bears direct personal responsibility.”
The SPD health politician Karl Lauterbach said: “We are just as badly prepared for disaster control as we are for pandemic protection.” Lauterbach told the “Rheinische Post” (Monday): “We must now prepare and prepare for more natural disasters in the future there will be and also regular pandemics. The infrastructure for this must be created and expanded, disaster control is of central importance here. ”Dpa
