VoltMany victims of flooding in western Germany had to endure heating in winter. The local energy supplier EVM announced on Thursday that because most of the natural gas network was destroyed by water masses in July, many people in the Aar Valley were initially unable to supply it. Emergency shelters will be provided for some affected people.
In Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, EVM reports that starting in December at the earliest, approximately 3,500 network connections will be restored to natural gas. A spokeswoman said that urban areas north of the Aer River were particularly affected. Families south of Ahr should reconnect during October. Then the heating season usually starts a few days before the frost. The city of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler requires energy suppliers EVM and Ahrtalwerke to provide citizens with alternative heating options. Mayor Guido Orthen said this could be moving liquid gas tanks or connecting to a less disruptive district heating network.
Some residents could not be resolved in time. These people will be provided with emergency shelters in the form of containers. Orthen said hundreds of people may be affected. “We currently need about 150 people.” However, this number will increase because many people may not realize that energy supply is not ubiquitous until now.
The lack of Ahr crossing makes reconstruction difficult
SWR reported that in the further Ahr Valley, many residents are worried about the upcoming autumn and winter seasons. The towns there were not previously connected to the gas network, and houses usually have their own gas tanks or heating oil tanks. Many tanks were destroyed or washed away in particularly severely affected places such as Dernau, Altena, Albrück or Schulder.
According to Energieversorgung Mittelrhein (EVM), 133 kilometers of natural gas pipelines and more than 7,000 network connections and numerous air pressure control and measurement systems were damaged or completely destroyed by flooding in the Ahr Valley. “This is the biggest disruption in our company’s history after World War II,” said CEO Josef Rönz. Repair work is carried out at full speed. However, since all Ahr crossing points have also been destroyed, the cost of rebuilding the gas supply is particularly high.
At the same time, according to Deutsche Post Chief Executive Tobias Meyer, Deutsche Post announced on Thursday that 130 cars had been destroyed or damaged, and one of its branches was “almost completely destroyed”. Washed away”. Although the post office has a contingency plan. But no one can foresee such a scenario.” According to Swiss Post, it is not clear how many letters and packages were lost in the flood. “This cannot be generalized,” Meyer said. In the afternoon before the flood, the branches were still empty and the vehicles were empty. Most of them were empty. However, some goods were lost, and the post office “cannot find more” mailboxes. At the latest, the mail can be delivered to a place where someone is still alive again at the latest one week later.
