As of: 09/30/2021 10:34 p.m.
The Ahr valley will probably be marked by the consequences of the flood disaster for years to come. The mayor of Altenahr, Weigand, declared in the daily topicsthat further efforts are needed to ensure the reconstruction.
The mayor of Altenahr, Cornelia Weigand, believes that the villages in the Ahr Valley still have a long way to go to normality. “We need staying power,” she said in the interview daily topics.
Although residents affected by the flood disaster have been able to apply for help since Monday, this money is mainly used for destroyed household effects. Craftsmen and construction companies are now needed to rebuild the houses. “In winter it has to get warm first,” said Weigand.
New guidelines for municipalities
Wiegand made it clear that despite the shock of the disaster, many residents wanted to rebuild the Ahr valley. The people would have had difficult weeks. Many houses have already been gutted. The municipalities have been informed of the new requirements regarding the areas in which houses may be built in the future.
But there are special zones where it is definitely no longer allowed to build. Those residents who have lost their houses have been promised special help by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. But nothing concrete was yet available. Your community now needs new residential areas. “There is still a lot to be regulated in the next few years,” she said.
In the future she would like to see measures to enable a safe life in valleys. There is no alternative to just moving to the surrounding hills, as the living space there is quickly built up. Nevertheless, there is always a residual risk.
133 people died
At a so-called future conference, the Rhineland-Palatinate state government announced that only relatively few destroyed houses are no longer being built due to the risk of flooding. The on-site representative Günter Kern stated that the government had spoken to 34 people who were affected and were no longer allowed to build because they were in the particularly endangered area.
Prime Minister Malu Dreyer said that “the vast majority of homeowners” could renovate on the spot. In the flood disaster after extremely heavy rain on July 14th and 15th, 133 people were killed, hundreds of residents injured and thousands of houses damaged or destroyed in the touristic river valley.