Federal Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer is confident that the so-called cell broadcast – that is, warning messages to the population via mobile communications – can be introduced quickly. “I think we can do that this year,” said Seehofer before a special meeting of the Bundestag interior committee in Berlin. He knows about the concerns, about the network operator. “If you want, you can move mountains – just not the responsibilities of the countries,” added the CSU politician.
Meanwhile, the SPD is campaigning for a constitutional amendment to give the federal government more powers in disaster control, even in times of peace. The strict separation between disaster control in the federal states and the responsibility of the federal government for civil protection in the event of a defense is no longer appropriate, according to the SPD domestic politician Sebastian Hartmann. “Today’s threats – especially the keyword cyber attacks on hospitals, water supply and disposal – quickly have situations in peacetime where countries are overwhelmed,” said Hartmann on Welt-TV. “That is why the federal government must be able to intervene alone in situations that affect the entire federal territory or would overwhelm the states. We will not be able to avoid a discussion about a constitutional amendment,” says Hartmann.
Federal Minister of the Interior Seehofer had recently campaigned for more cooperation between the federal government and the states, but said that the responsibilities should not change. (07/26/2021)
District of Euskirchen: The water still has to be boiled
The supply of electricity and drinking water in the North Rhine-Westphalian district of Euskirchen has not been fully restored even more than ten days after the flood disaster. “We are still not at one hundred percent,” said a spokesman for the circle. In large parts of Bad Münstereifel and in the urban area of Euskirchen, the water still has to be boiled. In addition, not all areas are fully supplied with electricity again. Meanwhile, the clean-up continues. “The mountains of rubbish are slowly disappearing,” said the spokesman. “But there is still a lot to do.” In addition, the streams and drains have been checked for flotsam in the past few days in order to be prepared for any new rainfalls. (07/26/2021)
Up to 50 liters of rain per square meter in Berlin
Heavy thunderstorms fell in Berlin and Brandenburg early on Sunday evening. The Berlin fire brigade announced on Twitter that it was in the “state of emergency_weather”. Operations would be processed with priority, there could be waiting times on the emergency number 112. A spokeswoman for the German Weather Service (DWD) said that at 7 p.m. there was 50 liters of rain per square meter in Berlin-Buch, and around 40 liters in Berlin-Marzahn. There were numerous delays at Berlin Airport (BER) and the departures were jammed.
The German Weather Service had also warned for Brandenburg, for example for Märkisch-Oderland, Oberhavel, Oder-Spree and Spree-Neisse, the districts of Ostprignitz-Ruppin, Barnim, Dahme-Spreewald and the city of Cottbus. Occasionally trees could be uprooted and roofs damaged, cellars and streets could be flooded as well as brooks and rivers overflowing their banks.
Heavy storms also raged in parts of Bavaria on Sunday – the fire brigade was on duty to repair damage in particular in the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, Miesbach and Weilheim country trips. A dead hunter was found under an overturned stand.
In the flood areas in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, however, it remained almost dry. There, too, had been warned of violent storms at the weekend, and an offer was made to evacuate villages. After some rainfall on Saturday afternoon, it hardly rained in the regions during the night, said a spokeswoman for the German Weather Service. (07/25/2021)
Rain triggers traffic chaos in London
Heavy rains and thunderstorms caused traffic chaos in London on Sunday. Several streets, subway stations and a tunnel were closed due to flooding, as reported by the BBC, among others. Pictures showed how buses and cars were slowed down by water masses. In many areas of the city this led to major delays in traffic.
The fire brigade spoke of several hundred calls in the early evening about full basements or flooded streets. The authorities warned of further flooding in several regions in the south-east of England and advised against unnecessary journeys. A 28-year-old cyclist told PA UK news agency that he was born and raised in London but had never seen anything like it in the city. (07/25/2021)
Belgium again badly hit by storm
In Belgium, numerous cars were washed away and people were brought to safety when the storm continued. In the city of Dinant, the vehicles carried away by the water blocked a level crossing, as the Belga news agency reported on Saturday evening, citing the railway company Infrabel. The rail traffic had already stopped because of the flood in mid-July. In the city of Namur in the province of the same name, houses have been evacuated due to the weather. The city is only about 100 kilometers west of Aachen. “It is a disaster,” Belga quotes the fire brigade.
Pictures in a report by the public broadcaster RTBF show how streets have turned into raging rivers. In addition to Namur and Dinant, other cities and villages are also affected, Belga reported. Among other things, landslides were reported in Walloon Brabant south of Brussels. In the province of Antwerp in the north of the country, there were weather-related operations by the fire brigade. Water poured into houses, and lightning struck a house. Initially, nothing was known about the dead or injured.
Similar to Germany, there was also a violent storm in Belgium a good week ago with fatalities. According to information from Friday, 36 people died. (25.07.2021)
Interior ministers demand more money for siren funding program
The interior ministers from Lower Saxony, Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia are calling for an increase in the funds for the federal government’s new Siren funding program. A one-off payment of 90 million euros is only a fraction of what is really needed, said Lower Saxony’s head of department Boris Pistorius (SPD) World on sunday. The federal government has a duty to ensure that a nationwide functioning warning system is installed again.
Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) said the program should be significantly increased. Especially at night and when there is imminent danger to life, you need the piercing siren warning tone in order to reach as many citizens as possible. NRW incumbent Herbert Reul (CDU) said that if more money was available, the municipalities could invest more in the warning infrastructure.
EU aid: offer for reconstruction
The EU Commission is offering Germany help in dealing with the consequences of the flood disaster. “With a view to the reconstruction phase after the disaster, the EU has a number of instruments at its disposal to support the member states,” says the EU Commissioner responsible for humanitarian aid and crisis protection, Janez Lenarcic World on sunday. With the help of the “EU Solidarity Fund” “part of the costs that the authorities incur in emergency operations and during reconstruction can be taken over.”
In addition, the EU Commission offers a wide range of information and programs to support the member states in improving disaster control. In contrast to Belgium, Germany has not requested any EU aid during the flood, the EU Commissioner explains. “Rather, Germany offered help for Belgium according to its capacities.” (25.07.2021)
THW Vice President: Volunteers abused by “lateral thinkers”
Volunteers from the Technical Relief Organization (THW) are sometimes disturbed and verbally attacked during their operations in West German flood areas. “It goes so far that our helpers are insulted,” said the Vice President of the THW, Sabine Lackner, on Saturday in the RTL / NTV program “Frühstart”.
“If they are on the road with emergency vehicles, they are thrown with garbage,” added Lackner. The attackers are mainly so-called “lateral thinkers” or people from the prepper scene who claim to have been affected by the flood disaster, as well as some frustrated flood victims.
In some cases, the emergency services were also filmed by people who did not identify themselves as representatives of the press, said Lackner. No operations have yet been canceled because of the incidents, but the situation is psychologically stressful for the volunteers. “I am infinitely grateful to our emergency services that they are going on quite boldly,” said Lackner. For protection, the THW arranged for the colleagues to be allowed to remove their name tags from their clothing.
The Koblenz police were dismayed by the reports. “Should the police become aware of such an incident, we will take action immediately and with all determination,” she wrote on Twitter. At the moment the police in Koblenz cannot confirm the descriptions “in any way”. “We ourselves only found out about this alleged incident from the media and checked it immediately with the THW and our police forces,” said the police. (07/24/2021)
Association of towns and municipalities: Do not rebuild houses in the same place
The Association of Towns and Municipalities assumes that many of the buildings destroyed by the flood cannot be rebuilt in exactly the same way. General manager Gerd Landsberg said im Deutschlandfunkthat there should be a discussion about whether or not to rebuild every house where it was. That is tough for the owner, in Grimma, Saxony, people were offered another piece of land after the floods in 2002. Many bridges were also too low and were therefore destroyed by the water and floating caravans.
Magdeburg’s Lord Mayor Lutz Trümper warns communities in the flooded areas in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia against rebuilding the houses in the same place. One should ask oneself if this really makes sense he said to that Editorial network Germany. The flood could come back at any time and sustainable protective measures are not possible in these areas. “You can’t just build dikes there,” said Trümper, whose city was flooded in 2002 and 2013. Nor is he of the opinion that people in the areas have received too little warning. “People knew how many liters of water they were going to get. It was going up and down on the radio days beforehand.” He doesn’t think people would have left their homes voluntarily if more warnings had been given. (7/24/21)