“The worst is the helplessness”: Erdinger helpers in the flooded areas

Erdinger forces of the BRK and the Maltese support flood victims in Rhineland-Palatinate.

Erding / Ahrweiler

- "I have already been on a number of large-scale operations, but I've never seen anything like it." That says Ingo Gössel, group leader at the Malteser Aid Service in Erding.

“You think you're in the film or at war.” This sentence comes from Iris Menzinger from the BRK Erding.

Both have one thing in common: Together with other volunteers from their rescue organizations, they were in the regions on the Ahr in Rhineland-Palatinate that were completely destroyed by the floods.

Some of them are there for the second time.

The two Erdinger teams are the proof: In the crisis regions not only clearing teams are needed.

The main task of the Maltese and BRK people was to support the people mentally and to protect them and other helpers.

“We have to do something about that.

In a catastrophe of this magnitude, everyone helps everyone. ”BRK service manager Lukas Wildmoser had this thought and immediately found fellow campaigners from the crisis intervention team (KIT), including its boss Dr.

Birgit Wahl.

In the middle of the night, the KIT arrived at the Nürburgring, where they could briefly sleep.

Then it went to Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, a region massively affected by the natural disaster.

The Erdinger walked through a settlement together to just listen to those affected.

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BRK district readiness leader Dieter Pfanzelt (r.) Said goodbye (back, from left) Iris Menzinger, Sven Haarkötter, Lukas Wildmoser, (front, from left) Sarah Haux, Florian Strömsdörfer and Monika Knöferl.

© BRK Erding

“The worst thing for many is helplessness,” reports a KIT employee.

Quite a few were trapped in their homes during the flood disaster and could not have helped because otherwise they would have endangered themselves.

"That will haunt people for a long time," the crisis helpers are convinced.

But the rescuers are also under pressure.

“For them, the effort drains their physical and psychological strength a lot.

Firefighters couldn't help because the current was too strong.

That is one of the worst things for emergency services: wanting to help and not being able to, ”report the KIT team.

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The Malteser Aid Service team (from left): Andreas Greil, Heribert Ertl, Ingo Gössel and Benjamin Beck.

© Malteser Hilfsdienst

They were in action in the Ahr valley for 72 hours.

They weren't allowed to stay longer.

By no means do they see themselves as heroes.

Menzinger is convinced: "The real heroes are the local people."

In the middle of the night, a team from the Rapid Response Group Transport from the Erdinger Malteser team led by Ingo Gössel. They too were in demand as crisis reaction forces in Altenburg and Ahrweiler. “On the one hand, our job was to take care of injuries, for example if a firefighter had cut himself or helpers had blisters,” reports Gössel. They also looked after injured people. “It's hard to imagine, but there is still no reasonable medical care there because the infrastructure is still completely destroyed.” That is why helicopters would have to be requested over and over again, the same ones that rescued people in mid-July Had fled the roofs of their houses.

Because of these memories, the Erdingen Maltese were also called upon to save souls.

Gössel says that this is not his first flood, he has already helped in Deggendorf, "but that is not comparable to what we have experienced here".

He feels with the victims.

"Many houses are completely damaged and empty, and then an appraiser comes and tells people that what they have saved their lives for must be demolished."

Gössel didn't have much time to breathe.

On Friday he drove back to Rhineland-Palatinate, this time with group leader Sunny Klee with the SEG catering and a field kitchen.

For the next 72 hours, the Maltese will ensure that rescuers and those affected get at least one warm meal.

This is also no longer a matter of course in this region.