Status: 01.09.2021 1:31 p.m.
The cabinet has brought further details on the distribution of aid for the victims of the flood disaster. Affected households and companies can receive compensation of up to 80 percent of the damage.
The federal government has created a further basis for the disbursement of the billions in reconstruction aid for the victims of the devastating flood in July. The cabinet passed an ordinance on the distribution and use of the funds.
According to the information, the ordinance defines which damages in connection with heavy rain and floods fall under the fund as damage. They regulate details of the development aid fund, “so that those affected can be compensated quickly, comprehensively and fairly,” said Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz. 30 billion euros are available “to eliminate the destruction caused by the flood disaster and to rebuild buildings and infrastructure,” said Scholz.
Federal Council still has to agree
According to the Ministry of Finance and the Interior, the distribution of the planned funds is based on damage reports from the federal states. The federal and state governments are sharing 28 billion euros for the aid fund, and the federal government alone is providing two billion for destroyed infrastructure.
Initially, the funds are distributed according to a fixed formula: Rhineland-Palatinate accounts for almost 55 percent, North Rhine-Westphalia around 44 percent, Bavaria one percent and Saxony 0.5 percent of the funds earmarked for the state programs. As soon as the damage can be estimated more clearly, the distribution key should be adjusted.
Affected households and companies can usually receive up to 80 percent of the damage caused by the water masses. In justified cases of hardship, the entire damage can also be compensated. Payments from insurance companies and emergency aid are offset in such a way that a maximum of 100 percent of the damage is covered. The ordinance and the law establishing the aid fund can only come into force if the Federal Council approves them. The vote is scheduled for September 10th.
Applications in Rhineland-Palatinate possible from October
In mid-July, extreme rainfall triggered devastating floods on rivers in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. Whole places were devastated by the masses of water, more than 180 people died.
The Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, Malu Dreyer, announced in the rbb indicates that those affected in the federal state can apply for help from the construction fund, which the federal and state governments agreed about three weeks ago, as early as next month. “We are currently preparing how we will give people the opportunity to submit applications as easily as possible from October onwards.”
After the vote in the Federal Council, according to Dreyer, the “budgetary prerequisites” still have to be created at state level. In a government statement Dreyer announced that the Council of Ministers of their federal state should discuss a state law on the establishment of a special fund “Development Aid Fund Rhineland-Palatinate 2021” on September 14th. About a week later, the law should then be introduced into the state parliament.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, the minister responsible for local government and construction, Ina Scharrenbach, had promised an earlier start of the application process – from September 13th.
Bundesbank exchanges dirty cash
Private individuals from the flood areas in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate as well as banks and savings banks have so far submitted more than 50 million euros in damaged cash to the Bundesbank for a refund. The banknotes, which are often heavily contaminated with mud, sewage and heating oil, are washed, dried and checked by specialists at the Bundesbank in Mainz so that those affected get their money back in fresh notes.
The bank notes must be processed as quickly as possible before they clump together and become hard as concrete, said Bundesbank board member Johannes Beermann at the analysis center for counterfeit and damaged cash in Mainz. The service is free. The submitted sums have been registered and will be refunded.
Two important conditions must be met: 50 percent of a banknote “plus one more snippet” must be present, as Beermann explained. In addition, it must not be counterfeit money. Counterfeiters have no chance, said Beermann. Private individuals can submit the flood money to the Bundesbank or their commercial bank and send it by post.
State act for flood victims
Around 250 localities in Rhineland-Palatinate were affected by the flood disaster, 134 people died in the state. They are to be commemorated today with a state ceremony at the Nürburgring. The Formula 1 racetrack is located in the Ahrweiler district, which was particularly hard hit by the floods. Helpers and members of the armed forces, rescue services, police and disaster control had set up a base camp here in order to deploy to the Ahr valley.
According to state chief Dreyer, in addition to relatives of the victims and missing persons, people who were injured or damaged by the flood, as well as auxiliaries and mayors of affected places, were invited to the state ceremony. We want to remember the victims, but also thank the countless helpers and also send the signal to all affected people that they are not alone in their suffering and need, emphasized Dreyer. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier should also take part in the memorial event.
The first broadcasts the state act from 5 p.m. in a special broadcast, tagesschau.de shows it in a live stream.