Ahrweiler, Germany: Like other residents of his town in Germany, Wolfgang Hust Knew a flood was coming. He says how bad it would be if no one told him.
The 66-year-old antiquarian bookseller in Ahrweiler said the first dire warnings to vacate or relocate high floors of buildings close to the Ahr river came via loudspeaker announcements on 14 July at around 8am. Haste hears a short emergency siren blast and church bells ring, followed by silence.
“It was scary like a horror movie,” he said.
Haste rushes to save his car from an underground garage. By the time they parked it on the road, the water stood up to knee height. Five minutes later, safely inside the house, he saw his vehicle floating on the road. He later learned that he also lost books from the early 1500s and that his total loss was estimated at over 200,000 euros ($235,000).
“The warning time was too short,” Haste said.
With the death toll from last week’s floods in Germany and neighboring countries confirmed to have passed 210 on Friday and the economic cost expected to run into the billions, others in Germany have asked people to warn people of the impending disaster. Why don’t the emergency systems designed for .
Sirens sounded in some towns when power was cut. In other places, there were no sirens at all; Volunteer firefighters had to go knocking on people’s doors asking them what to do.
Haste acknowledged that few could have predicted the speed at which the water would rise. But he pointed across the valley to a building that houses the German federal office for civil defense, where first responders across the country train for potential disasters.
“In practice, as we just saw, it didn’t work, let’s say, as well as it should,” Haste said. “The state didn’t do what it should have done. At least not until much later,” he said.
The local authorities responsible for triggering the disaster alarm in the Ahar Valley on the first night of the floods have kept a low profile in the days following the deluge. At least 132 people are alone in the Ahar Valley.
in officers Rhineland-Palatinate The state took charge of disaster response in the wake of the floods, but he declined to comment on Friday on what mistakes might have been made in the night’s disaster.
“People here are seeing life in ruins. Some have lost relatives, many were dead,” said state official Thomas Linertz, who is now coordinating the disaster response. “I can understand the anger very well. But on the other hand, I must say again: it was an event that no one could have predicted.”
Armin Schuster, the head of Germany’s federal disaster agency BKK, acknowledged the public broadcaster ard This week that “things don’t work out as well as they could have.”
His agency is trying to determine how many sirens were removed after the end of the Cold War, and the country is planning to adopt a system called ‘cell broadcasting’ that sends alerts to all cellphones in a particular area. can.
In the town of Sinjig, resident Heiko Lemke recalled how the Ahrweiler had been severely damaged by floods, long after firefighters were knocking on the door at 2 a.m.
Lemke said that despite the floods in 2016, no one expected Ahar’s waters to rise as high as last week in his community. (Moved this up because otherwise, it wasn’t clear what they thought was not possible).
“They were firing people,” he said. “We were completely confused because we thought it was not possible.”
He said the ground floor of his family’s house was flooded within 20 minutes, but he decided it was too dangerous to step out.
“We won’t be able to make it around the corner,” said his wife, Daniela Lemke.
Twelve residents of a nearby assisted living facility for people with disabilities were drowned in the flood.
Police are investigating whether facility staff could have done more to save residents, but there is no suggestion yet that officials could face criminal investigation for failing to issue a timely warning. .
Experts say such floods will become more frequent and severe due to climate change, and countries will need to adapt, including revising calculations about future flood risks, improving warning systems, and adapting populations to similar disasters. preparation is included.
Now that he knows about the flood risk, Heiko Lemke hopes those things will happen.
“But maybe it would be even better to leave it,” he said.
The 66-year-old antiquarian bookseller in Ahrweiler said the first dire warnings to vacate or relocate high floors of buildings close to the Ahr river came via loudspeaker announcements on 14 July at around 8am. Haste hears a short emergency siren blast and church bells ring, followed by silence.
“It was scary like a horror movie,” he said.
Haste rushes to save his car from an underground garage. By the time they parked it on the road, the water stood up to knee height. Five minutes later, safely inside the house, he saw his vehicle floating on the road. He later learned that he also lost books from the early 1500s and that his total loss was estimated at over 200,000 euros ($235,000).
“The warning time was too short,” Haste said.
With the death toll from last week’s floods in Germany and neighboring countries confirmed to have passed 210 on Friday and the economic cost expected to run into the billions, others in Germany have asked people to warn people of the impending disaster. Why don’t the emergency systems designed for .
Sirens sounded in some towns when power was cut. In other places, there were no sirens at all; Volunteer firefighters had to go knocking on people’s doors asking them what to do.
Haste acknowledged that few could have predicted the speed at which the water would rise. But he pointed across the valley to a building that houses the German federal office for civil defense, where first responders across the country train for potential disasters.
“In practice, as we just saw, it didn’t work, let’s say, as well as it should,” Haste said. “The state didn’t do what it should have done. At least not until much later,” he said.
The local authorities responsible for triggering the disaster alarm in the Ahar Valley on the first night of the floods have kept a low profile in the days following the deluge. At least 132 people are alone in the Ahar Valley.
in officers Rhineland-Palatinate The state took charge of disaster response in the wake of the floods, but he declined to comment on Friday on what mistakes might have been made in the night’s disaster.
“People here are seeing life in ruins. Some have lost relatives, many were dead,” said state official Thomas Linertz, who is now coordinating the disaster response. “I can understand the anger very well. But on the other hand, I must say again: it was an event that no one could have predicted.”
Armin Schuster, the head of Germany’s federal disaster agency BKK, acknowledged the public broadcaster ard This week that “things don’t work out as well as they could have.”
His agency is trying to determine how many sirens were removed after the end of the Cold War, and the country is planning to adopt a system called ‘cell broadcasting’ that sends alerts to all cellphones in a particular area. can.
In the town of Sinjig, resident Heiko Lemke recalled how the Ahrweiler had been severely damaged by floods, long after firefighters were knocking on the door at 2 a.m.
Lemke said that despite the floods in 2016, no one expected Ahar’s waters to rise as high as last week in his community. (Moved this up because otherwise, it wasn’t clear what they thought was not possible).
“They were firing people,” he said. “We were completely confused because we thought it was not possible.”
He said the ground floor of his family’s house was flooded within 20 minutes, but he decided it was too dangerous to step out.
“We won’t be able to make it around the corner,” said his wife, Daniela Lemke.
Twelve residents of a nearby assisted living facility for people with disabilities were drowned in the flood.
Police are investigating whether facility staff could have done more to save residents, but there is no suggestion yet that officials could face criminal investigation for failing to issue a timely warning. .
Experts say such floods will become more frequent and severe due to climate change, and countries will need to adapt, including revising calculations about future flood risks, improving warning systems, and adapting populations to similar disasters. preparation is included.
Now that he knows about the flood risk, Heiko Lemke hopes those things will happen.
“But maybe it would be even better to leave it,” he said.
.