At least 155 people are missing a week after record rains caused devastating flooding in the west GermanyAs the chairman of the country’s disaster relief organization said, she “did not expect” rescuers to find more survivors.
Sabine Lackner of the Federal Technical Relief Agency, a voluntary organization organized by the German Interior Ministry, said: “We are still looking for the missing because we are clearing the debris or evacuating the cellar.”
“Unfortunately, at this stage, the victim may only be recovered and not rescued,” Lackner told RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland.
A week later, the slow-moving weather system released two months of rainfall in two days in the western region Germany, The death toll has risen to at least 171, of which 123 have been confirmed in the hilly Ahrweiler region of Rhineland-Palatinate. Another 764 were injured and 155 are still missing.
In the wine region of the Aar Valley and the neighboring North Rhine Westphalia region, it is believed that approximately 40,000 people have been affected by the floods.
Disastrous flash floods killed thousands in western region Germany Unable to obtain drinking water, electricity and gas. The complete destruction of infrastructure in the area only appeared after the waters had completely receded in the past few days.
In the spa town of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, the capital of the Ahrweiler district, about 19,000 people now have no natural gas for heating water and houses after the pipeline and its connecting bridges were removed.
“A few kilometers of pipelines and control stations are gone,” a spokesperson for regional energy supplier EMV said, adding that it would take months to rebuild the infrastructure.
Marburger Bund, a union representing American doctors Germany, Expressed concern about the shortage of medical staff and supplies in the affected areas. In Rhineland-Palatinate alone, 20 medical institutions were closed due to flooding.
The train tracks built along the river have been washed away, and the national railway company Deutsche Bahn reported that 373 miles (600 kilometers) of tracks and 80 stations are impassable and it may take several years to completely rebuild.
The German Insurance Association estimates that the damage caused by the floods amounted to 4 to 5 billion euros. The 2002 flood, when the Elbe River destroyed its banks in the east Germany, Causing losses worth 4.65 billion euros.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister, Angela Merkel, Her cabinet approved emergency financial assistance worth 200 million euros for people affected by the flood. The state government is expected to match the federal assistance program, and is expected to provide a larger scale reconstruction of basic infrastructure at a later time. Package plan.
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said: “What happened should not be blamed on citizens.” “This is due to the entire human race and climate change.”
