Minister: Rebuilding costs in the billions after flooding in Germany
- World
- DPA
- Published Date: 04:38 | 19 July 2021
- Modified Date: 04:38 | 19 July 2021
The cost of rebuilding the flooded communities in western Germany will run to billions of euros, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Monday during a visit to the region.
The flooding of the Ahr tributary devastated communities in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. With the waters receding, residents are recovering what they can from damaged properties and businesses, and looking to the government for help.
"This is an exceptional situation that we can only overcome with hard work here and with a huge national effort," Seehofer said in the town of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler.
The number of people confirmed to have died rose again to 117 in Ahrweiler.
At least 749 others were injured, a police spokesperson in Koblenz said on Monday. Many others are missing, although it is not known how many as communications in the region are still poor.
The floods last week also struck parts of the neighbouring state of North Rhine Westphalia, killing 46 people.
Across the border in Belgium, over 30 people died.
Seehofer also visited emergency forces in North Rhine Westphalia at the Steinbach Dam, which has been at risk of breaking for days.
The fire brigade in the city of Euskirchen countered rumours that the dam had broken and said no cracks were found during an inspection flight by a federal police helicopter.
"Water is still being pumped out and drained," a spokesperson for the fire brigade told dpa in Dusseldorf. Whether the water level is already beyond the critical mark is to be determined by a final expert assessment on Monday.
As a precaution, parts of the towns of Swisttal and Rheinbach, just below the Steinbach dam on the border with Rhineland-Palatinate, have been evacuated.
Businesses in the German west were also affected by the floods. Car parts supplier ZF, energy firm RWE and copper recycling company Aurubis were among the large businesses that had to stop or reduce production due to the floods.
The weather forecast had welcome news for Germany on Monday. The weather service predicted "only a few rare drops" of rain at the start of the week for the northern half of Germany.
In the southern half, only the area south of the Danube in Bavaria might see isolated thunderstorms in the afternoon.
In Passau, the level of the Danube was 8.18 metres on Monday morning, below the highest flood warning level of 8.50 metres. The situation is still far from catastrophic, a police spokesperson said.
In Berchtesgadener Land district, which was hit particularly hard by storms, residents were able to enjoy a "calm" night, the fire brigade said.
The floods have restarted a climate debate in Germany and Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Soeder has called for more efforts in climate protection.
"We already need a climate shift in Germany," he told broadcasters ARD on Monday.
Soeder stressed climate protection is not an ideological question, but a matter of reason and ethics.
During her visit to some of the worst hit areas on Sunday, Merkel promised more efforts to protect people from the effects of climate change and said policies needed to take greater account of this than in the past.
The flooding of the Ahr tributary devastated communities in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. With the waters receding, residents are recovering what they can from damaged properties and businesses, and looking to the government for help.
"This is an exceptional situation that we can only overcome with hard work here and with a huge national effort," Seehofer said in the town of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler.
The number of people confirmed to have died rose again to 117 in Ahrweiler.
At least 749 others were injured, a police spokesperson in Koblenz said on Monday. Many others are missing, although it is not known how many as communications in the region are still poor.
The floods last week also struck parts of the neighbouring state of North Rhine Westphalia, killing 46 people.
Across the border in Belgium, over 30 people died.
Seehofer also visited emergency forces in North Rhine Westphalia at the Steinbach Dam, which has been at risk of breaking for days.
The fire brigade in the city of Euskirchen countered rumours that the dam had broken and said no cracks were found during an inspection flight by a federal police helicopter.
"Water is still being pumped out and drained," a spokesperson for the fire brigade told dpa in Dusseldorf. Whether the water level is already beyond the critical mark is to be determined by a final expert assessment on Monday.
As a precaution, parts of the towns of Swisttal and Rheinbach, just below the Steinbach dam on the border with Rhineland-Palatinate, have been evacuated.
Businesses in the German west were also affected by the floods. Car parts supplier ZF, energy firm RWE and copper recycling company Aurubis were among the large businesses that had to stop or reduce production due to the floods.
The weather forecast had welcome news for Germany on Monday. The weather service predicted "only a few rare drops" of rain at the start of the week for the northern half of Germany.
In the southern half, only the area south of the Danube in Bavaria might see isolated thunderstorms in the afternoon.
In Passau, the level of the Danube was 8.18 metres on Monday morning, below the highest flood warning level of 8.50 metres. The situation is still far from catastrophic, a police spokesperson said.
In Berchtesgadener Land district, which was hit particularly hard by storms, residents were able to enjoy a "calm" night, the fire brigade said.
The floods have restarted a climate debate in Germany and Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Soeder has called for more efforts in climate protection.
"We already need a climate shift in Germany," he told broadcasters ARD on Monday.
Soeder stressed climate protection is not an ideological question, but a matter of reason and ethics.
During her visit to some of the worst hit areas on Sunday, Merkel promised more efforts to protect people from the effects of climate change and said policies needed to take greater account of this than in the past.
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