Flood disaster in North Rhine-Westphalia: row of houses and historic castle collapse - several dead

The flood disaster in NRW remains extremely tense on Friday, houses collapse near Cologne.

Many residents have already returned to their homes - despite warnings.

The news ticker.

• The flood disaster will not ease on Friday either.

• At least 43 fatalities are to be mourned in North Rhine-Westphalia alone.

• On Friday the tide rolled to Erftstadt

  (see original report).

• This news ticker is continuously updated.

Update from July 16, 4:44 p.m.:

According to the government, a total of 25 cities and districts in North Rhine-Westphalia were affected by the floods.

Prime Minister Armin Laschet continued to speak of a total of 43 deaths in the state, but fears that the number will continue to rise.

The city of Erftstadt, which was badly affected by the flood, officially reported the first fatality on Friday afternoon, as a spokeswoman reported.

In the vicinity of the town of Erftstadt-Blessem, parts of Autobahn 1 even fell into the Erft river, as reported by the dpa.

According to this, about 40 meters of the hard shoulder broke off in several pieces and fell into the river, and a piece of a noise barrier collapsed.

Three residential buildings and part of a historic castle fell victim to the landslides in the particularly affected district of Erftstadt.

It is assumed that the yielding continents could tear down further buildings.

In addition, massive washings of houses as well as partial and total collapses were reported.

The situation in the 50,000-inhabitant town is currently “particularly critical” “because of the dynamism”, said North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul.

Although the water level of the Erft is falling, it is still four times wider than usual. By the way, what the flood disaster has to do with climate change, explains a meteorologist *.

Floods in Germany: NRW Interior Minister Reul appeals to the population - "Do not disturb helpers"

Update from July 16, 2:14 pm

: "It's no time for sightseeing now":

North

Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) has urged the population to refrain from flood tourism.

The CDU politician said that in Düsseldorf.

"Please stay at home and do not disturb the helpers."

He can understand that people want to know what it looks like in flooded parts of their city.

“But you can do all of that later.

We just need space and time and space now. "

Update from July 16, 1:25 p.m.:

In the Euskirchen area, the police are still looking for 40 missing people.

In the Bonn area and the Rhein-Sieg district, 19 people are also still missing, as the Cologne police announced on Friday.

The hotline for missing persons in the Rhein-Sieg district had received more than 300 inquiries.

Many of the calls are due to the collapsed cellular network.

Floods in Germany: the exact number of fatalities in Erftstadt is still unclear

Update from July 16, 1:20 p.m.:

In Erftstadt-Blessem, which was particularly hard hit by the storm, three residential buildings and part of the historic castle have collapsed. "We assume several deaths, but do not know," said the North Rhine-Westphalian Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) on Friday in Düsseldorf. There are no fatalities in the eastern part of the village, which has been thinned out so far, and everyone living there is safe. “But that's not the whole city yet.” The situation in Erftstadt is currently “particularly critical” “because of the dynamism” and is still very confusing.

Update from July 16, 11.40 a.m.:

The situation at the Steinbachtalsperre in the Euskirchen district remains tense.

"The situation is stable, but not uncritical," announced the district on Friday morning.

The water level fell by about two centimeters overnight until the onset of rain and could then be maintained.

The evacuation of the endangered areas has been completed, the district said.

“How long the situation will last

cannot be said at the moment.” The Cologne police have now reported 24 deaths in connection with the flood in the Euskirchen district.

Floods in Germany: First provisional arrests in North Rhine-Westphalia

Update from July 16, 11.30 a.m.:

While trying to steal from shops in the cities of Eschweiler and Stolberg in North Rhine-Westphalia, which were badly affected by the flood, five people were provisionally arrested. In all cases, officials wrote complaints of theft, a police spokesman said on Friday. A 32-year-old man tried on Thursday in Stolberg to steal an item from a jewelry store. When witnesses spoke to him, he dropped his prey again.

In a supermarket in Stolberg, two women aged 28 and 24 and a 35-year-old man were out to steal groceries and toys.

In Eschweiler, a man wanted to make booty in a pharmacy.

In all shops, the entrance area was damaged by the flood, said the police spokesman.

Officials took the personal details of the people who were subsequently released.

The 28-year-old woman in Stolberg will be brought before a judge.

As early as Thursday, the police reported attempted theft in shops in Stolberg.

Hundreds of police

were deployed to protect the abandoned homes and businesses from looting.

Floods in Germany: the number of deaths continues to rise

Update from July 16, 10:35 a.m.:

The number of storm deaths in North Rhine-Westphalia has risen to at least 43. The

NRW Ministry of the Interior announced this on request on Friday. So far, the number had been put at at least 30.

Update from July 16, 10.15 a.m.:

In the city of Stolberg near Aachen, which was badly hit by the floods, the drinking water supply is also critical on Friday morning.

It is currently restricted, said a city spokesman.

Citizens should boil drinking water before use.

To ensure the supply, drinking water tanks were set up in all parts of the village, where those affected could help themselves.

In addition, the city takes care of the coordination of monetary and material donations.

More information should follow later.

On Thursday, the drinking water network was damaged due to the flood, which resulted in pressure drops in the network.

Flood disaster in North Rhine-Westphalia: people had returned - fatalities confirmed

Update from July 16, 9:40 a.m.:

When houses collapsed in Erftstadt-Blessem, people died.

"There are fatalities," said a spokeswoman for the Cologne district government on Friday.

There had been massive and rapidly progressing washings of houses in the village.

+

North Rhine-Westphalia, Erftstadt: rubble from collapsed houses are in the district of Bessem.

© David Young / dpa +++ dpa-Bildfunk +++

Initial report

: Erftstadt - After the storm disaster, the situation in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate did not ease on Friday either, in Erftstadt-Blessem a number of houses collapsed in whole or in part.

The Cologne district government announced this on Friday morning.

The cause is massive and rapidly progressing underwashing of the houses.

In NRW alone, 30 fatalities were confirmed on Thursday evening.

In Rhineland-Palatinate, the number of deaths increased to 50 on Friday morning.

Flood disaster in North Rhine-Westphalia: The first houses in Erftstadt collapse - emergency calls are increasing

Emergency calls keep coming from the houses.

As the WDR reports, many people are said to have already returned to their homes despite warnings.

Many others should not have left the affected area from the start.

At the moment, however, people could only be rescued from the water by boat.

In addition, a gas leak that cannot be shut off makes rescue work more difficult.

Several nursing homes would be evacuated.

According to the WDR, hospitals should not be able to continue their operations either.

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List of rubric lists: © Rhein-Erft-Kreis / dpa