On the night of the flooding, the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of the Interior received a situation report from the police describing the extent of the disaster. But Minister Roger Lewentz did not have it.
After videos from a police helicopter showing the extent of the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley became public last week, a report by the pilot has now surfaced, which was sent to the situation center of the Ministry of the Interior that night. The ministry confirms that the report was received there at 12:53 a.m. – but it was not available to Interior Minister Roger Lewentz (SPD).
Only: why not?
The situation center of the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of the Interior had asked the police helicopter to fly on the evening of the flood. That was what an official in the investigative committee had said. The helicopter flew upstream between 10:14 p.m. and 10:42 p.m. In their report, the pilots write aloud General Newspaperthat there had been a flood with “dramatic effects” from the mouth of the Ahr near Sinzig to the town of Schuld. “Numerous houses” are under water “up to the roof”. People would send “SOS” signals with flashlights. The fire brigades are no longer able to head for the flooded houses due to the “strong current”.
The committee requested all the documents in February
The AZ also writes that the situation report was included in the evidence files of the committee of inquiry “only a few days ago” – even though the committee had already requested all the documents on the “situation picture” complex in February. At that time, either the ministry or the helicopter squadron should have submitted the report to the committee.
When asked, the Ministry of the Interior said that the minister’s knowledge at the time was “broadly known”. Roger Lewentz had always said that he had “not had a complete picture of the situation” during the night and that he had assumed “punctual flooding”. It remains unclear why he apparently did not read the report, although it was received by his ministry’s situation center.
Lewentz has been under massive pressure for days, also because of the helicopter videos, which also only recently appeared in the investigative committee’s evidence files. The reason for this is said to have been a documentation error by the police. The chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in the committee speaks of a “monstrous scandal”.