Status: 07/18/2021 2:10 p.m.
Chancellor Merkel got a picture of the situation after the flood in the particularly badly affected community of Schuld. The clean-up work is in full swing in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia.
Four days after the devastating storms, Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the community of Schuld (Ahrweiler district) in the Eifel, which was particularly hard hit by the flood disaster. Together with the head of the Rhineland-Palatinate state, Malu Dreyer, the CDU politician got an idea of the situation on site. The local mayor of Schuld, Helmut Lussi, welcomed Merkel. TV pictures showed them talking to emergency services on a bridge. A press statement is planned for the afternoon in Adenau.
Chancellor Merkel is expected in the badly damaged Eifel village
Axel John, SWR, tagesschau24 1:00 p.m., July 18, 2021
According to police, at least 110 people were killed and 670 injured in the Ahrweiler district alone. In North Rhine-Westphalia the number of confirmed fatalities was 46. In Bavaria, too, at least one person died. The search for dead and injured in the affected regions has not yet been completed, so the number of victims could increase even further.
Numerous people in Erftstadt are looking for relatives
Many houses were destroyed in the worst flood disaster in Germany for decades. Bridges, roads and railways are in ruins. In Erftstadt, west of Cologne, many people are still looking for their relatives. A spokesman for the Rhein-Erft district said 34 people were reported to the city’s “personal information center”, whose whereabouts are uncertain. On Saturday the number of those wanted was 59. “Fortunately, some have already been found,” said the spokesman.
In the Blessem district, experts want to check the stability of the subsoil. According to the city, you should examine the edges of a landslide. The situation remains tense. The floods had created a huge crater in Blessem. At least three houses and part of the castle collapsed.
“Can’t give the all-clear”: Christian Hoch, WDR, on a possible rupture of the Steinbach dam in Euskirchen
tagesschau24 11:00 a.m., July 18, 2021
There was a setback near Euskirchen on the Steinbachtalsperre southwest of Bonn. There the water drains off more slowly than expected. Therefore, experts should reassess the location of the dam, which is threatened by a rupture, as announced by the Cologne district government. The authorities had actually hoped to be able to give the all-clear. Water is drained from the dam to relieve pressure from the dam.