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Erftstadt-Blessem (aerial photo from July 16)
Photo: Christoph Reichwein (crei) / imago images / Reichwein
This article is continuously updated.
Göring-Eckardt calls for a strengthening of voluntary work
6.44 a.m.:
Green parliamentary leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt calls for more support for volunteers in the rescue and disaster services after the flood disaster.
Both the helpers and the voluntary work itself had to be "materially and structurally strengthened," she told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
"For this, an unbureaucratic special fund is urgently needed for rescue and disaster services when equipment wears out in action or material is missing." After this crisis, "massive investments must be made in promoting young talent," says Göring-Eckardt.
Residents of Erftstadt-Blessem are briefly allowed into their houses
6.29 a.m.:
In North Rhine-Westphalia, many residents of the Erftstadt-Blessem district affected by a landslide are temporarily allowed to return to their apartments and houses on Thursday.
With construction fences, emergency services have already set up a safety zone of 100 meters around the edge of the gravel pit.
For the streets outside this area, the city had planned to let residents into their apartments individually and briefly in order to secure personal belongings.
For safety reasons, however, emergency services should accompany the respective residents.
The North Rhine-Westphalian cabinet advises in the morning on the consequences of the storm disaster and emergency aid.
Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU) had already announced that NRW would provide 200 million euros in emergency aid for the victims and that the payments would be processed quickly.
Further help comes from the federal government.
Bundeswehr flies with an Airbus over the Ahr valley
6.10 a.m.:
In the morning the Bundeswehr flies low over the Ahr valley in an Airbus.
The aircraft, which is stationed in Geilenkirchen in North Rhine-Westphalia, will use thermal and infrared cameras to provide new knowledge and data about the river bed after the flood.
The Air Force had already helped with a special aircraft on Wednesday with a more precise assessment of the storm damage in western Germany.
Meanwhile, the base camp for the deployment of technical aid organizations, fire brigade, rescue services and the German armed forces for the flood disaster area in the Ahr valley has been built on the Nürburgring vehicle fleet.
4500 to 4700 helpers are expected on the site during the night, said operations manager Heinz Wolschendorf during a visit by Prime Minister Malu Dreyer and Interior Minister Roger Lewentz (both SPD).
DRK takes stock of the flood deployment
3.48 a.m.:
After the storm
disaster,
the President of the German Red Cross (DRK) wants to get an
idea
of the situation in Rhineland-Palatinate this Thursday. Gerda Hasselfeldt will visit an outpatient medical practice of the DRK in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler. She also wants to draw a first summary of the deployment so far, look to the coming weeks and comment on how well Germany is prepared for such disasters. Hasselfeldt recently called for better prevention and pointed out that extreme weather conditions will increase over the next few years.
According to previous knowledge, at least 172 people were killed in the flood disaster.
People are still missing - most of them in the particularly affected district of Ahrweiler in the north of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Parts of the region still have neither water nor electricity.
Minister of Labor Heil promises support
2.02 a.m.:
Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) assures companies and employees in the regions affected by the flood disaster more support from the Federal Employment Agency (BA). "This dramatic crisis is about a triad: firstly, to help people acutely, secondly, to create immediate financial aid and, thirdly, to ensure long-term support for companies and jobs after the reconstruction of the infrastructure," Heil told the "Rheinische Post".
"We will increasingly secure jobs in the affected regions with the help of the Federal Employment Agency." The short-time work allowance is not only an instrument for a short-term economic crisis, but it can also help employees and companies in the affected regions in their need. so hail.
"If it is necessary, I will not hesitate to extend the short-time work allowance rules, which were improved during the Corona crisis, beyond the end of September."
Green politicians: The appearance of "lateral thinkers" in the flood area is shameless
0.20 a.m.:
The deputy chairman of the Green parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Konstantin von Notz, describes the appearance of supporters of the "lateral thinkers" movement in the disaster area in Rhineland-Palatinate as brazen and possibly punishable. "That lateral thinkers, Reich citizens, Holocaust deniers and other right-wing extremists try to celebrate their personal day X in the face of the suffering of the people and the tragedy of the flood is simply shameless," von Notz told the editorial network Germany (RND).
Obstructing the emergency services and deliberately weakening state infrastructures is not only counterproductive, it may also be punishable under certain circumstances.
The Koblenz police warn of vehicles with loudspeakers that are similar to police vehicles and that would spread false reports in the disaster area.
It was claimed that police and rescue workers would reduce the number of their emergency services.
wit / dpa / Reuters / AFP
