Many settlements in southern Germany are flooded. The victims are in shock and are not particularly impressed by the chancellor's presence. "Politicians should get a realistic idea and not make empty promises."
When the chancellor dons rubber boots to tour the flooded areas, the situation is serious indeed. And it is even more dramatic if the prime minister of the province and the federal minister of the interior are with him. Olaf Scholz, Markus Söder and Nancy Feiser appear before the journalists in Reichertshofen with worried faces. "Nature is merciless and can cause enormous destruction."
Reichertshofen is a small town with 8,500 inhabitants and is one of the most affected by floods in southern Germany. The small river Paar overflowed and caused floods in the area. Whole streets had to be evacuated, hundreds of basements and ground floors were under water, the power went out. "The situation remains very serious," Söder said. "Although in some places the water recedes and clearing begins, there are still new floods. Currently, 3,000 people have been evacuated, and their number is likely to grow."
Without the volunteers it would be impossible
At the moment, 20,000 people are helping in the flooded Bavarian areas, and so far their total number is more than 50,000, Söder praises the volunteers in Bavaria. And many who work at the fire department are volunteers. One of them is Christian Nitschke - he is the highest-ranking firefighter in the area and can be proud of himself and his team - they managed to bring thousands of people to safety.
But the firefighters are grieving - one of their colleagues capsized in his dinghy during a rescue operation and died. "That's the nightmare of this operation, the worst thing that can happen is losing a colleague. We are shocked and very concerned. But we will fight to the end, even in the areas where the water manages to overcome us", Nitschke told DV.
"Yesterday we feared that a whole town of 10,000 people would be flooded, but fortunately that did not happen, partly because the rescue services did a wonderful job. In the future, we should definitely continue to support the volunteer structures, because we have too few full-time employees," says Christian Nitschke.
Scholz's visit does not impress the locals
The situation remains tense. The level of the Danube River may continue to rise over the next day or two. All of Reichertshofen is still watching the water masses with bated breath. Not much attention is paid to the fact that the highest-ranking politicians in the country appear in the small town. People have more important things to do right now.
Our team meets with a woman whose basement is flooded and who is desperately looking for an emergency generator as she has been without power for 24 hours. We also meet a man who has no idea how to get into his house right next to the Paar River because the entrance has now turned into a small lake. And another tells of deer and roe deer that were swept away by the water masses. We also meet Martin Lorenz, who is once again standing on the edge.
Fast support instead of red tape
Four years ago, his small gym barely survived the pandemic, and now the floods are catching up. "After the coronavirus, business took off again, but now this has happened. "All the electrical appliances, the gym equipment and the floors are all broken," says Lorenz.
In his opinion, it is good that Olaf Scholz visited Reichertshofen and saw the disaster with his own eyes. But now the federal chancellor must fulfill his promise and help the victims quickly. It also depends on whether Lorenz will be able to restore his fitness center.
"Politicians just need to get a realistic picture and not make empty promises. Not like the pandemic, when things were often terribly complicated. And you should not be afraid that you will make 1000 mistakes again and then you will have to return part of the help".