As of: 08/09/2021 4:35 p.m.
After the severe storms in July, the planned aid fund must amount to 20 to 30 billion euros, according to NRW Prime Minister Laschet. According to reports, the federal and state governments want to split the costs of the flood in half.
According to the Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia Armin Laschet, the aid fund planned by the federal and state governments for the flood victims must have a volume of 20 to 30 billion euros. The package is being put together, said the Union chancellor candidate in the state parliament in Düsseldorf. In North Rhine-Westphalia alone, according to initial estimates, the damage amounted to more than 13 billion euros. In Rhineland-Palatinate, “a similar, if not a higher sum” will probably be paid again.
The federal and state governments want to get the fund off the ground tomorrow. Before the conference of the prime ministers with the Federal Chancellor, all countries had signaled their willingness to raise this amount, said Laschet. “That is why we are grateful for this nationwide solidarity.” Now a speedy parliamentary procedure with special sessions of the Bundestag and Bundesrat is necessary. “I think that the Bundestag can still meet in August.”
More than 150 schools in North Rhine-Westphalia damaged
In North Rhine-Westphalia, among other things, more than 150 schools were damaged, said Laschet – at least eight of them were so severe that without an alternative solution, even restricted school operations would not be possible. In addition, more than 200 daycare centers and medical practices were damaged and over 50 pharmacies.
“The flood of July 14th and 15th was probably the biggest natural disaster that North Rhine-Westphalia has hit since the Federal Republic of Germany came into existence,” said the Prime Minister. “After everything I’ve seen in the past few weeks, I’m still deeply shaken.” The last time North Rhine-Westphalia had to deal with the reconstruction of thousands of private apartments and houses was after the Second World War.
Report: The federal and state governments want to share costs
According to a first draft resolution for tomorrow’s conference, the federal and state governments should each bear half of the costs for the reconstruction. The federal government has assured the federal states that “after assessing the total damage, it will also contribute half financially to the necessary reconstruction,” reported the editorial network Germany (RND), citing the paper.
The draft does not contain exact sums. It is planned, however, that it will take two decades before the costs for the construction aid are paid off. In addition, according to the report, the financial aid should flow quickly and unbureaucratically. Prior approval of measures should therefore be dropped “in view of the urgency of the damage repair”
Aimed for text message warnings
According to the dpa news agency, the federal and state governments are also striving to improve the decentralized warning of the population in the event of a disaster. This includes, in particular, the federal siren funding program, with which the federal states will be provided with a total of up to 88 million euros for the upgrading and installation of sirens by 2023, according to the draft. It is also quoted: “In addition, the cell broadcasting system is to be introduced, with which in future it will also be possible to warn the population with text messages on cell phones.”
With cell broadcasting, a message is sent to cell phone users in a similar way to an SMS – to all recipients who are currently in the radio cell in question. This technology is already used in many other countries.
The mobile phone masts in Germany should be technically adapted “promptly”, according to the draft. The paper also says: “The Federal Chancellor and the heads of government of the federal states ask the Justice Ministers’ Conference to examine against the background of current events whether the previous assessment of compulsory insurance for natural hazards should be updated.”