The willingness to help in the Freising district is unbroken: once again forces from THW, BRK and Navis set out to help the victims of the flood disaster.
District
- On Monday morning, a team from the Freising THW set off for Ahrtal (Rhineland-Palatinate) - with a 51-meter-long temporary bridge in their luggage.
Because the task of the emergency services is to build a temporary bridge over the Ahr, in the middle of the heavily flooded Ahrweiler.
And that is not only a challenge because of the structural dimension, knows THW local representative Michael Wüst: "The people there are in an absolutely exceptional situation and mentally at their limits." Fritz-Helge Voss, state representative of the THW, gave the Freising helpers the important advice: “Expect the population to be dissatisfied because many structures are not yet working.
Take care of yourselves."
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Lots of material was loaded into the THW vehicles by the volunteers.
© THW
The fact that THW helpers in the flooded areas have been attacked several times in the past few weeks is an additional burden for this mission.
“Nobody has to be offended by my people,” says Wüst.
And: Those who were disturbing and causing unrest there wanted to achieve something other than help - alluding to the lateral thinker scene.
Wüst has a clear opinion on this: "Anyone who disturbs has to leave the scene, otherwise the police will remove them."
In order to visit all Bavarian THW units, the state representatives Voss and Wüst also drive to the crisis area as deputy state spokespersons.
There are currently 300 helpers working there.
"There will be more bridges to be built," Wüst is certain: "Today is just the vanguard."
The deployment is initially planned for a week, but the THW expects months of clean-up work in the area.
A challenge for the volunteers as well as for their employers, who they release for their assignments.
Nevertheless, such crises would not be manageable without the voluntary aid organizations.
The deputy district administrator Anita Meinelt is aware of this.
"Come back safe and sound," she said when she parted.
Meinelt is happy about the know-how of the THW Freising.
“We also have a lot of bridges here.
If something happens to us, we need you! "
Radio specialists from the BRK are required
After the water watchmen, a second aid team from the BRK district association drove to the disaster area of North Rhine-Westphalia on Sunday night.
This time it is the radio specialists of the BRK with the command vehicle who are to coordinate the various relief efforts of the Red Cross on site.
It was 3 am on Sunday when the six-person “information and communication unit” set off.
In Greding, they met with the rest of the Upper Bavaria aid contingent, and then together - 150 helpers in 50 vehicles - drove on to the flood-damaged area.
The task of the Freisinger is complex.
The radio specialists coordinate the operations of the various BRK units:
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the care
units
that take care of the people affected,
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the supply units that medically care for and care for the injured and
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the catering units that ensure that the people in the disaster area have something to eat and drink.
The command vehicle from Freising is the focal point of the BRK operations, which are controlled from here in order to be able to work as effectively as possible.
The communications unit will stay in North Rhine-Westphalia for about three days, reports BRK district manager Albert Söhl.
More could not be expected of the helpers in view of the high burden.
Söhl: "We wish everyone a good trip and that they return healthy."
“Water angels from Bavaria” continue
The Moosburg aid organization Navis has been in action in the Ahrweiler district (Rhineland-Palatinate) for over a week to set up a drinking water supply in the crisis area (we have reported).
In this area the entire drinking water supply failed due to the storm.
If two drinking water treatment plants with a capacity of 5000 liters of water per hour each were set up at the beginning of the operation, three more plants of this size were added in the course of the past week.
As team leader Tobias Venus reported, the extent of the destruction in the region cannot be described: the local infrastructure and the buildings are badly damaged.
That reminds of war-like conditions.
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The Navis emergency services in the Ahrweiler district take care of the drinking water supply.
© Navis
In total, the first Navis team treated a million liters of water in the first week, which is why they were also dubbed “Water Angels from Bavaria” by the grateful population.
In the meantime, team one has returned - and a second team around Jürgen Arnold has taken over the work.
The Navis staff are supported on site by numerous helpers at home in Moosburg, who take care of the replacement material, donations and financing, as well as communication.
By the way: Even with the volunteers, things don't always run smoothly: The arrival of the second Navis team was characterized by two flat tires and was therefore more difficult than expected.
But with a little delay, the handover with the colleagues on site could still take place as planned.
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