After the flood disaster in Rhineland-Palatinate, the Chancellor speaks of devastation for which there are hardly any words. She promises quick help and demands that sustained solidarity is needed.
– Four days after the devastating storms in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, the death toll has risen to more than 150. Destroyed houses, bridges, roads and railways – the masses of water have left a swath of devastation.
In the disaster area in Rhineland-Palatinate, Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks of a “surreal, ghostly situation”. The CDU politician, together with the Prime Minister of Mainz, Malu Dreyer (SPD), visited, among other things, the Eifel community, which was badly hit by the flood, and spoke to those affected and the emergency services. “The German language knows hardly any words for the devastation that has been caused,” said the Chancellor afterwards.
Merkel promises quick help, but also makes it clear that it takes a long breath. “In the very short term, everything will not be all right again here.” Next Wednesday, the federal government will adopt a program for quick support, medium-term tasks and the restoration of the infrastructure. “We stand by your side, federal and state,” she says. “I am sure that the nationwide solidarity will continue.”
The latest catastrophe shows “with what force nature can act”. Politicians must take nature and the climate into account more “than we have done in recent years”.
110 dead in the Ahrweiler district alone
The focus of the disaster in Rhineland-Palatinate is in the Ahrweiler district. According to the latest information from the Koblenz police, over 110 people were killed there alone. 670 people were injured. It is feared that more people will be killed and injured. “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 North Rhine-Westphalia, the number of confirmed deaths was last at 46, including four firefighters. In the flood hotspot Erftstadt west of Cologne, numerous people are still looking for their relatives. So far, according to the city, 59 people whose whereabouts are uncertain have been reported to the “personal information center”.
In the Blessem district, experts wanted to test the stability of the subsoil on Sunday. According to the city, you should examine the edges of a landslide. The situation remains tense. The floods had created a huge crater in Blessem. At least three houses and part of the castle collapsed.
There was a setback near Euskirchen on the Steinbachtalsperre southwest of Bonn. There the water drains off more slowly than expected. The authorities had actually hoped to be able to give the all-clear on Sunday afternoon. Water is drained from the dam to relieve pressure from the dam.
Scholz: “It’s about billions of euros”
Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz has meanwhile promised emergency aid in the hundreds of millions for those affected by the flood disaster in the west. “It takes a national show of strength,” said the SPD politician of “Bild am Sonntag”. He wanted to put two things on the table in the cabinet on Wednesday. “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. “
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
