Markus Lanz on ZDF is discussing the flood disaster a year ago. Above all, warning the population is an issue.
Hamburg – In the last program before the 4-week summer break, Markus Lanz talks about the anniversary of the Ahr Valley flood disaster with his guests Herbert Reul (CDU Interior Minister in North Rhine-Westphalia), Peter Wohlleben (forester and author), the flood victims Maria and Thomas Dunkel and Fireman David Fuhrmann. What use are early warning systems if the causes of the “burning climate change” are not combated?
There is still rubble on the street in Dernau, where David Fuhrmann is also the deputy mayor. In Erfstadt, Maria Dunkel stands at the window every time it rains and watches the water levels with concern, while her son Thomas struggles with the “reconstruction aid”. “You can be told a lot”, – the reports then ran continuously in the media – “but you really understand it when you stand at this crater,” says Herbert Reul: Then the events are suddenly no longer just on television, ” but at home”.
Markus Lanz (ZDF) talks about the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley: raising awareness
Politicians were quickly accused of not having reacted appropriately to the situation. Of course, before, during and after that “not everything went smoothly”, puts Herbert Reul into perspective at Markus Lanz (ZDF). But at least in advance, those who are familiar with the weather should “bring the information to the people who have to make the decisions.” Fast and understandable, so that an assessment can be made: “What does that mean, what do I have to do now?” , he pushes the responsibility away from himself.
A few days earlier there had been warnings from the European weather service, contradicts Markus Lanz, but Herbert Reul doesn’t see himself as a weatherman: “Even if you had data that was half good and half finished – nobody understood it.” He is busy himself prefers to use the early warning systems for such catastrophes to boast about the limited successes: When he started installing sirens, “everyone thought I had a bang”, but now every town wants one.
| The guests at Markus Lanz | |
|---|---|
| Herbert Reul | CDU Minister of the Interior in North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Peter Wohlleben | ranger |
| Maria and Thomas Dunkel | flood victims |
| David Fuhrman | firefighter |
Not only does Peter Wohlleben grimace in pain: sirens are of no help if the power is off or the environment is so loud that they cannot be heard, he explains to Markus Lanz (ZDF). “It wasn’t something sudden (…), you would have had 24 hours” to make it clear: “Something’s coming, you haven’t seen it before.” And why is there no warning about cell phones in Germany like there is in others countries has long been the case?
Markus Lanz with daring Ukraine comparison
Markus Lanz draws the daring comparison to the war in Ukraine: “If there is an air raid, then there are warnings: there are apps.” Herbert Reul quickly refers to the NINA app, but also emphasizes: “People take it not serious anymore.”
Peter Wohlleben also sees it differently: If there was a sound from the app and a message “Warning tidal wave”, everyone would react, he’s sure. The forester had also warned in the run-up to the catastrophe via social media that the soil was reaching its load limits due to the rain. It was clear to him, “there is a huge flood”. But he couldn’t have imagined these effects: “That people will die”, he never thought that far.
Markus Lanz (ZDF): Forester Peter Wohlleben explains: Forests are usually “like a sponge”
Forests are usually like “a sponge and absorb,” explains Peter Wohlleben, but many soils have been destroyed by all the deforestation. Wherever there are spruce plantations or clear cuts, the water is moving faster; – where, on the other hand, there are “old, intact beech forests”, there is healthier soil. Even if this difference might only have meant “50 or 100 centimeters of flooding: Are those exactly the decisive ones,” explains the forester at Markus Lanz (ZDF).
To the broadcast
Markus Lanz on ZDF. The broadcast from July 14, 2022 in the ZDF media library.
On the part of politicians, he sees no active action towards a real improvement: forests are still being cut down in the region. Peter Wohlleben would like people to “leave the forest to itself again”, because only then does the ecosystem have the chance to regenerate: “It would mean relief”, maybe only slightly at first, but “every centimetre counts”, in order to avoid further catastrophes like in the Ahr valley. “We have to be more considerate of the ecosystem again,” because: In an atmosphere in which nature cannot live, neither can we. (Tina Waldeck)
