After the flood in North Rhine-Westphalia: clearing up, building up, working up

It’s been four weeks: floods that sweep everyone and everything away, bring suffering and destruction. But how are people today? A visit to the disaster area of ​​North Rhine-Westphalia.

The uncertainty was the worst. Finally, the 57-year-old engineer Ralf Virnich has clarity. Even if it hurts. Anything is better than brooding and not being able to sleep at night. It is now certain that he will never be able to enter his apartment in Erftstadt-Blessem an der Erft, about 40 minutes from Cologne. The house is in danger of collapsing. Too close to the break-off edge.

One night after the flood came, a row of houses there were torn into the depths of a gravel pit by the masses of water from the Erft. The city demolished other endangered houses. In the next few days the bulldozers will also demolish Virnich’s house.

One last time he was allowed to go into his apartment for a few minutes to collect a few belongings: “We took papers and computers with us. Everything that is considered important,” says the engineer. “The house is in acute danger of collapsing, and that’s why all the furniture and everything that is bulky has been left in there. Everything that could not be carried.” There is little that remains of his previous life.

According to Mayor Carolin Weitzel, the situation is still dramatic: “Many people are standing in front of the ruins of their existence and simply do not know what to do next,” said the CDU politician to the German Press Agency. “Fortunately, we have no deaths or serious injuries to complain about, but this event will leave deep scars on people’s souls,” said Weitzel.

Emergency aid and donations

The city disbursed 4.4 million euros in emergency aid to 2,000 applicants. Flat rate 1500 euros per household and 500 euros for each additional person living in the household. 5.5 million euros in donations have been received. A concept for equitable distribution is to be presented to the city council in a good two weeks.

Wherever the flood made its way a good four weeks ago, people are still busy cleaning up. Also in Schleiden in the Eifel. There is a lot to be done here. So much that they hardly have to think about it, say Daniela Fischer and Klaudia Wergen, whose houses were badly damaged. “I think if we get some rest here, it’ll be bad for us.” And Wergen adds: “We saw the house below being torn down. We’ve both lived here for decades. It’s depressing.”

Numerous schools destroyed

Eschweiler is not far from Schleiden. The Patternhof secondary school there can no longer be used because the entire basement, the ground floor, the cafeteria and the sports hall were under water. Floors, screeds, doors – a lot has to be renewed. The need for renovation is high. Overall, according to the city of Eschweiler, damage of more than two million euros is to be expected.

However, a solution has already been found: When school in North Rhine-Westphalia starts again next week on Wednesday, the around 1000 students will not have lessons in Eschweiler, but in neighboring Würselen. In the mornings, special buses drive from one small town to the other. “In a good 20 minutes, everyone should have arrived at our interim school on time,” hopes headmistress Michaela Silbernagel.

School start in a state of emergency

But it’s not just about accommodating the previous students. But also to welcome the new fifth graders next Wednesday. “For them it is of course an unfamiliar, unplanned situation,” said Silbernagel. Actually, they had already planned everything for Eschweiler. Now the schooling takes place in Würselen.

The school, the parents and the students would also do everything possible to ensure that this special time is now organized by mutual agreement. That it will be a good phase before the old school and home can be moved back into. According to the state school ministry, more than 150 schools have been affected by the flood disaster and are facing massive damage.

And many ask: why? Whose fault is it? According to initial estimates, the damage is more than 13 billion euros in North Rhine-Westphalia alone. This was announced by Prime Minister Armin Laschet in a special session of the Düsseldorf state parliament. Motorways are still completely closed in the affected regions. The repairs could take months.

48 dead in North Rhine-Westphalia alone

The victim’s record was particularly devastating: in North Rhine-Westphalia alone, 48 people died from the flood. Could all of this have been prevented? Days after the flood, some despair turned into anger. When Chancellor Angela Merkel came to Bad Münstereifel on June 20 to get an idea of ​​the situation, some of the listeners could not contain themselves and shouted: “You should tackle it, not babble. That could have been prevented.” A family of four, parents in their mid-50s, daughters in their early 20s, sat desperate, crying on the rubble of the road, and didn’t know what to do next.

Prosecutor determined

They wanted answers a good three weeks ago, which the public prosecutor’s offices are now supposed to provide. Reports in connection with the flood have been received at various locations and are now being examined. In Cologne one is already a first step further. The public prosecutor’s office is now investigating against unknown persons because of the gravel pit in Blessem. It is about the initial suspicion of building risk in connection with the mine accident, according to the Cologne public prosecutor.

A lot of man-made problems

From the point of view of many residents, many of the problems in Blessem are man-made, explains Gottlieb Richardt. At the beginning of the 1960s, like many other rivers in Germany, the Erft was straightened. After the heavy rains it had expanded to 200 meters, wider than the Rhine. “The river has no expansion surface. It is canalised. As soon as the water swells, it cannot expand. On one side there is a residential area, on the other the highway.”

And the gravel pit on the edge of the village has aggravated the situation, believe many Blessemers. It was built too close to the village and expanded over the years. Protests against it have died down. The gravel pit – the second major problem in Blessem. “When it was said that the gravel pit goes to a depth of 120 meters, many were horrified, says Richardt.” If something breaks there – that is the end of Blessem. A giant crater was created so that parts of the village simply broke away, “he explains sadly.