/dpa, Boris Roessler
Mainz – Around three years after the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley, the final report of the investigation committee of the state parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate is available. It dealt with the disaster control work of the state government and subordinate authorities on the night of the flood on 14–15 July 2021 and the first phase thereafter.
On the one hand, the report states that the government and state authorities have done and initiated everything that could be considered necessary based on the available findings in the acute situation.
At the same time, there is also talk of a “deficient image of the situation”. “From a certain point on the night of the flood, communication, based on the unimaginable apocalyptic situation, was underestimated in terms of quality and quantity with today’s knowledge”, he continues.
At least 135 people died in the Ahr Valley in the summer 2021 disaster. The U-Committee began its work in October 2021.
In connection with their acceptance of the developments, the former Rhineland-Palatinate Environment Minister and later Federal Family Minister Anne Spiegel (Greens) and Interior Minister Roger Lewentz (SPD) resigned for various reasons.
The committee met 47 times or 294 hours, 226 witnesses were heard and more than one million files with a total volume of around 560 gigabytes were made available to it in electronic format. More than 7,000 pages of records were created. It will be discussed in the state parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate after the summer recess in September. © dpa/aerzteblatt.de