The water masses are falling. Little by little, the extent of the disaster becomes clear. In the flood hotspot Ahrweiler alone, there are at least 90 deaths – and the authorities fear further victims.
– In some places of the devastating flood, the water is slowly receding – but the number of dead rises and rises. And the danger is not over yet.
On Saturday morning, more than 90 deaths were reported from the flood hotspot Ahrweiler in Rhineland-Palatinate alone. It is to be feared that there will be more deaths, the police said. The authority speaks of 618 injured – but this number could also increase. Even two days after the accident, people are still missing. For the entire state, the Rhineland-Palatinate Interior Minister Roger Lewentz (SPD) recently spoke of 63 people who were killed in the floods.
With the latest figures from Rhineland-Palatinate, the total number of fatalities in the flood disaster in western Germany rises to more than 130. 43 deaths were recently reported from North Rhine-Westphalia, which was also badly hit.
Among the dead in Rhineland-Palatinate are twelve residents of a facility for people with intellectual disabilities in Sinzig, at the confluence of the Ahr into the Rhine. “The water reached the ceiling of the first floor within a minute,” said Matthias Mandos, the managing director of the Landesverband der Lebenshilfe Rhineland-Palatinate. The night watch still managed to bring several residents to the first floor of the dormitory. “When he wanted to get the next one, he was already too late.”
Dam of the Rur broken in the Heinsberg district
The flood situation in Wassenberg in North Rhine-Westphalia in the Heinsberg district is still tense. After a dam on the Rur broke, the Ophoven district was evacuated here. According to the district government, 700 residents are affected by this measure. For two other districts – Effeld and Steinkirchen – there was an advance warning during the night that an evacuation could take place. Most recently, however, the city spoke of a “stagnating water level”.
The Rur has its source in the Eifel and flows into the Meuse near Roermond in the Netherlands. According to WDR, Wassenberg’s mayor, Marcel Maurer (CDU), sees a possible reason for the dam breach on the Dutch side: there, lock flaps have been closed, so that the water masses have backed up.
According to the early warning forecast of the State Office for the Environment Rhineland-Palatinate, the risk of flooding has recently decreased in Rhineland-Palatinate. In many localities, however, the electricity and telephone network continued to fail. Relatives, friends or acquaintances who miss someone can call the police on 0800 6565651.
According to the presidium, the police were on duty with many emergency services in the affected localities during the night. Due to the storm, many roads in the Ahr Valley are still closed or no longer passable. The train traffic in Rhineland-Palatinate is still massively impaired due to the flooding.
Steinmeier visits flood hotspot in North Rhine-Westphalia
While Chancellor Angela Merkel is planning an early visit to the heavily devastated region in Rhineland-Palatinate, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is expected on Saturday in the Rhein-Erft district in North Rhine-Westphalia. According to the Office of the Federal President, Steinmeier and NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet visited Erftstadt at noon, 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.
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).
Prime Minister Laschet spoke of a “flood disaster of historic proportions”. 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.” At a video conference with Laschet, Merkel had promised short and long-term support from the federal government for the people affected. dpa
