Of course, Mayor Stefan Busch saw the pictures from North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate and also the latest from the south of the Free State. And as strange as that may sound: In view of this, one is “a little bit grounded again”, says the mayor of Selbitz. A storm had raged in the Upper Franconian city on Tuesday last week, and the disaster had been declared for the entire Hof district. But essentially, says the mayor, the damage in Selbitz was of a financial nature. A week after the storm, he estimates the total damage in the 4,300-inhabitant municipality alone at 40 million euros.
The consequences are also still noticeable in Selbitz: Due to contamination, the water had to be boiled throughout the city on Monday. The city’s damaged infrastructure has only been partially restored; some roads are still closed, as are cycle paths. The mayor speaks of a “huge challenge”. The damage and personal hardship that arose from the storm should “keep the city busy for a long time,” he fears. Much of what has been built is gone. Real “biographies” were “destroyed” by the water, personal letters as well as “wedding photos, pictures of children, certificates and certificates”. But then, writes Mayor Busch in a message to the Selbitzer, “where the flood has made many cellars disappear”, perhaps something else unexpectedly became visible: “Solidarity, helpfulness, selfless commitment” for fellow citizens and neighbors.
A week later, the self-employed also realized that it could have been worse with regard to local companies. Busch hopes that a company whose locksmith’s shop has turned the water to scrap and in which machines weighing tons were swept away will be able to resume operations. And also with a view of the neighboring Reitzenstein – where six people trapped by the water could be saved unharmed – one can speak of luck. What remains is the anxious look into the future. “If it was trickling these days, then I got nervous,” confesses the mayor.