The district of Ahrweiler was badly affected by the flood.
Hundreds of years ago the people there knew about the dangers of the river Ahr.
Ahrweiler - The terrible news from the district of Ahrweiler (Rhineland-Palatinate) - around 30 kilometers from Bonn - does not stop.
On Monday, the number of people who died in the flood in the district was revised up to 117.
Numerous people are still missing.
It is not the first time that the people in the region have been hit by a flood disaster *.
As early as the 14th century there were safeguard clauses against loss of land in the case of the Ahr flood
This is due to the Ahr, a 90-kilometer-long tributary of the Rhine.
Large differences in altitude accompany the course of the river.
The water flow of the Ahr and its tributaries is rather low.
However, this changes in extreme ways after thunderstorms, persistent rain and snowmelt.
Then the small rivers become raging currents, which overflow their banks and develop a tremendous force.
Hundreds of years ago, the people in Ahrweiler knew about the danger of flooding.
It is documented that 1348 purchase contracts for meadow land contained safeguard clauses against loss of land as a result of the Ahr flood.
Over the centuries there have been reports of the floods in the Ahr Valley - in 1961 and 1962 people were hit by floods several times.
Most of the time, the masses of water destroyed the crops in the fields and tore bridges with them.
Occasionally people also lost their lives.
Great flood disaster in Ahrweiler in 1804
On July 21, 1804, one of the largest and most momentous floods occurred in Ahrweiler, which is described in detail in the chronicles. On this day, a strong thunderstorm after long-lasting rain in the days before, in the Hoch- and Ahreifel, caused the Ahr and its tributaries to swell within a very short time. A water level of 2.50 meters was measured in Antweiler. The tidal wave carried away everything that got in its way. 63 people lost their lives that day. 129 residential buildings and almost all 30 bridges in the affected area were torn away.
The night of June 12th to 13th, 1910, will always remain a sad memory in the history of the region. Continuous rainfall was followed by another violent storm, which turned the Ahr into a torrential river. The flood and its effect were reinforced by material from a railway line that was currently under construction. 52 people died, including many railroad workers who were swept away with their barracks and drowned.
MARCO BLANCO UCLES (* Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA)