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The water runs off, devastation and damage become visible: the clean-up work has begun in the badly affected Hagen.
After visiting some of the affected communities in North Rhine-Westphalia that morning, Armin Laschet also spoke to fire fighters in Hagen.
O-Ton Armin Laschet, Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia “We will not leave the municipalities, those affected, alone, but as a state we will also provide help here so that North Rhine-Westphalia stands together in solidarity in this situation. And we also deal with the consequences of this catastrophe in solidarity. "
With his visit to the Hagen fire brigade, Laschet wanted to pay tribute to all firefighters who are on duty during the severe storms - often under life-threatening conditions.
The CDU's candidate for chancellor was deeply concerned,
O-Ton Armin Laschet, Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia “that a firefighter initially died in Altena. 46 years old. A family man who saved another person and was then seized by the masses of water and died. And in the evening a second firefighter died in Werdohl, also in the district of Brandenburg, from a heart attack. And that shows what we are describing here in such abstract terms for a family now, in concrete terms, that you have lost your father. "
Storms, rain and heat like they are now are rather unusual in Germany.
For Laschet, a connection with climate change is obvious.
O-Ton Armin Laschet, Prime Minister North Rhine-Westphalia »We perceive these heavy weather events, heat events. They are linked to climate change. "
Laschet pointed out that the NRW state parliament had passed the first climate adaptation law that prepares precisely for such floods and disasters. There is no other federal state that has such a law.
