In the Ahrweiler district alone, 155 people are still missing. The THW Vice President Sabine Lackner doubts that there will be survivors after the flood – and warns against blaming.
Berlin – The Vice President of the Technical Relief Organization (THW), Sabine Lackner, sees little chance of finding survivors just under a week after the floods in western Germany.
“We are currently still looking for missing people, for example when clearing the paths or pumping out the basement,” she told the editorial network Germany (RND). “At this point, however, it is unfortunately very likely that you can only rescue victims, not save them.”
The number of flood deaths had risen to at least 170 within a week by Tuesday. 122 deaths from storms were confirmed from Rhineland-Palatinate and 48 from North Rhine-Westphalia. People were still missing on Tuesday – 155 in the particularly affected district of Ahrweiler in the north of Rhineland-Palatinate. Around 40,000 people there were considered to have been affected by the consequences of the devastating floods and floods.
THW Vice Lackner warned against the quick assignment of blame, according to which a better warning system could have prevented deaths. “Of course we will have to work through the processes. But I find this debate unfortunate three or four days after the disaster. ”She advised against“ speaking of failure now and looking for the guilty ”. Many people are still standing in front of the ruins of their livelihoods, and many support measures are still in progress. “This debate needs calm – and so do the experts. Most of them are currently still in use in the floodplains. “
In the future, more tried and tested alarm systems will be needed again, says Lackner. “Why not use loudspeakers to warn you on the street, for example if a bomb is found? Many sirens have also been abolished in recent years, they are needed. And the population should be able to distinguish the warning tones again. ”Dpa
