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Little by little, more helpers from the Bundeswehr, THW, fire brigade and police are advancing into the places devastated by the flash flood, like here in the Ahr valley in Rhineland-Palatinate.
The people who now literally live among rubble are in shock days after the disaster.
Couple in a car, without a name:
»We saw and experienced the flood because my partner lost her family, in Ahrbrück, a few places further down.
And we were there an hour before, and ... yes.
We're shaken, it's simple.
You can't put it into words, it's difficult. "
Lara Tillmann comes from the Ahr, but lives in Cologne.
When she couldn't reach her family after the flood, she drove up immediately.
Instead of the usual hour, it took her five to get there.
Lara Tillmann
»But only then did you see the full extent of the disaster on site, there were no more streets, there were no more cars, you had to walk in front of you with a stick to avoid breaking in, people came out of their houses like ghosts out and just looked: Are the neighbors still there?
Are old people still there?
Who is still alive?
Are they all well? "
Initially, it was mainly volunteers from the region who rushed to help - while the state and authorities took a while to summon their organizations to the crisis area.
Lara Tillmann
»You really have to say: the private companies, the private gardeners and landscapers, the private roofers, carpenters, electricians, they were all here after two or three days.
The biggest thanks really go to them, they built everything up with all their devices from day one. "
But slowly, as in the other affected areas, a new problem is emerging that is becoming more and more urgent.
Hans-Peter Bleken, resident
»A lot has happened in the last few days.
Fire brigade, Bundeswehr helped a lot.
And step by step we get a little further.
That looked worse, the mountains of rubbish are now everywhere.
But the next bigger problem is the mountains of household garbage.
It stinks everywhere. "
Because there is currently no functioning garbage disposal in the disaster areas.
Hans-Peter Bleken, resident
»The contents of the fridge and freezer are rotten and people no longer know what to do with them.
We got through Corona, but if we can get the bacteria and the viruses and the rats over here - that's our problem. "
Garbage and rubble are not only a health hazard - the sight of them also puts a mental strain on people.
Lara Tillmann
»If you have a somewhat normal picture again and don't see cars, kitchens, furniture, personal items everywhere, I think, then at some point a better time can start again.
But at the moment there is still more of the big shock and the question: How will it go on?
How do we do it financially?
How do we ensure that this place is not completely lost, that the whole Ahr valley collapses? "
The federal government has promised emergency aid of 400 million euros.
However, the damage is likely to be considerably higher - and reconstruction will take months and years.