Oberdorfen: Flood victims feel left alone

Oberdorfen - Your nerves are bare in Oberdorfen.

The residents of the settlement on Seebach, badly affected by the flood, are calling on the city to act.

After the flooding of the Am Seebach settlement in Oberdorfen, the residents feel left alone.

Mayor Heinz Grundner answered questions from those affected on Friday morning - some victims of the flood disaster reacted very emotionally at the meeting.

"We have to be careful that the situation doesn't derail," says Franz Wunschik, who has a house in the settlement himself. Mayor Grundner and District Administrator Martin Bayerstorfer were there the day after the evacuation. Those affected heard “words full of anointing”, according to Wunschik, but nothing happened on the part of the city. "This is not about anger and anger - people are scared and desperate," the former police officer explains in an interview with the local newspaper.

“We also realized that something like this can happen again,” says Wunschik. The Seebach, a small, inconspicuous ditch that drains the agricultural area between Oberdorfen and Landersdorf, caused the tidal wave. The residents of the settlement were taken by surprise. The water shot up to half a meter through the streets and flooded the houses - it carried away what it could hold. The residents had to be evacuated.

Experts were there on Thursday, reports Wunschik.

“A lot of houses have to be completely refurbished,” is the sobering result.

He himself was lucky, only the basement of his house was flooded.

But everyone who got water on the ground floor is now without shelter.

They can no longer move into their houses, not least because manure bacteria were also in the water.

“All floors have to be removed, the plaster down - everything has to be renewed,” says Wunschik, describing the upcoming renovation work.

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A lake plateau had formed in a very short time on Monday around the Am Seebach settlement in Oberdorf.

© Thomas Gaulke

He tells of a desperate mother who does not know where she can currently go, her husband is a restaurateur and has to open the restaurant - first the family had shaken the pandemic, now the flood.

Another family only moved in last weekend.

Not yet fully set up, they would have to leave the house again.

“We urgently need replacement accommodation,” explains resident Jochen Flinner, environmental officer at Munich Airport.

He turns to all private landlords who currently have vacant apartments and asks them to contact the city.

The residents have also appointed Stefan Zimmer, a settlement spokesman, he says.

Flinner's house, which is at the end of the settlement, was spared, the water only ran into the garden, he says.

If it had continued to rain, however, a catastrophe might have occurred to him too.

After all, more than 50 liters per square meter were measured in the district during the night from Sunday to Monday.

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On the day of the flood, Dorfen's mayor Heinz Grundner (left) was on site in Oberdorfen, here with district fire inspector Richard Obermaier.

© Thomas Gaulke

Grundner also wants to call on the population to make apartments available.

He will also see whether communal living space is available for the flood victims - difficult given the housing shortage in the suburb of Munich.

He understands the tension of the residents only too well, says the mayor of Dorfen.

He promises them the creation of a coordination office in the town hall.

"First of all, it's about the elementary things that have to be regulated," explained Grundner.

“Something has to happen soon,” says Wunschik, who is full of praise for the fire brigade's emergency services on the day of the disaster.

He also finds words of thanks for the municipal utilities and all other helpers.

“A lot has gone well,” says Wunschik, who has experienced a number of chaos situations during his 44-year police career.

He also mentions the rubbish at the roundabout, which has been supplying the residents with meat loaf and schnitzel rolls, sweet pastries and drinks for days.

“A great gesture,” says local resident Barbara Glas thanks as well.

Now, of course, there is still the question: Can such flood disasters be prevented in the future? That is very scary, say the residents. MICHAELE HESKE