Updated: 07/31/202120:07
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OfCindy Boden
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The Rhineland-Palatinate interior minister wants to work out exactly what happened around the flood days. There are allegations against a district administrator.
Ahrweiler – The disaster pictures from the flooded places in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia in mid-July triggered a great willingness to help nationwide. Over 180 deaths have already been reported. Thousands lost their belongings. As the extent gradually became clearer, high-ranking political visitors came. The Prime Ministers Malu Dreyer (SPD) and Armin Laschet (CDU) as well as Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) expressed their condolences and pledged support. The question quickly arose: Could the residents have been warned earlier?
Often sentences were heard such as: “Nobody could foresee this extent.” The British flood expert Hannah Cloke, however, raised allegations. “You could already see what was about to happen several days in advance,” it said.
Allegations against District Administrator of Ahrweiler: Precise warnings ignored?
Now there are new accusations, which are primarily directed against the district administrator of the Rhineland-Palatinate district of Ahrweiler, Jürgen Pföhler (CDU). In a report by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung it is said that the responsibility for the operational command depends on the warning level. From the morning of July 14th, warning level four applied in the district – which means that the responsibility would then lie with the district administration and therefore with Pföhler.
According to the report, the district of Ahrweiler received precise warnings of the flood disaster on the night of July 15, but did not react in time. The district administration had received several automated e-mails from the Rhineland-Palatinate State Environment Agency, reported the FAZ citing a spokesman for the authority. There were also warnings about the Katwarn system and publications on the Internet, according to the report.
Forecasts rise as early as the afternoon of July 14th – with one exception
As early as the afternoon of July 14th, the State Environment Agency published forecasts that predicted a water level in the Ahr of significantly more than the previous high of 3.7 meters. Pföhler pointed a few days ago to the Rhein newspaper indicated that there was also a forecast on the evening of July 14th that was lower than before. But then the prognosis went up again.
After the storm in Rhineland-Palatinate: A devastated cemetery in Ahrweiler a few days ago.
© Thomas Frey / dpa
In the emails to the district administration around 9:30 p.m., an expected water level of almost seven meters was mentioned. Nevertheless, the district only declared the disaster at around 11 p.m. and initiated evacuation measures. At that time it fared loudly FAZ and Rhein newspaper also the message to evacuate the buildings 50 meters to the right and left of the Ahr. When Pföhler appealed to the population at that time to move to higher floors, houses had already been swept away by the masses of water.
Interior Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate announces an exact reappraisal
State Interior Minister Roger Lewentz (SPD) referred to the FAZ on the jurisdiction of the district administration. He announced that the processes that evening would be “worked out exactly”. Pföhler responds to inquiries from FAZ according to the report not.
The crisis researcher Frank Roselieb also raised in the Koblenz magazine Rhein newspaper serious allegations against the district administrator. Disaster control management is part of the core function of every district chief and every mayor, said the Kiel scientist. He considers it inexplicable that no pre-alarm has been triggered in the Ahrweiler district. According to Roselieb, a pre-alarm could have been triggered in the early evening of July 14th, “in order to be able to initiate emergency measures”. He believes: “Many human victims could have been prevented.”
After devastating floods: German fire brigade association demands consequences
The German Fire Brigade Association has meanwhile also called for the consequences of the flood disaster. “We will sit down with operations managers, representatives of the regional fire brigade associations, but also with districts and municipalities and talk about the lessons we can learn from this disaster,” said association president Karl-Heinz Banse der Heilbronn voice. The use of spontaneous helpers must also be better coordinated.
The Greens backed the FDP’s call for a special Bundestag session at the beginning of August to discuss the situation after the flood disaster and the necessary consequences. “We are also working to ensure that parliament comes together for a special session of the Bundestag on the effects of the flood disaster,” said parliamentary secretary Britta Haßelmann the newspapers of the Editorial network Germany. (cibo / AFP)
List of rubric lists: © Thomas Frey / dpa
source https://pledgetimes.com/flood-disaster-in-rhineland-palatinate-warnings-ignored-allegations-against-district-administrator/
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