Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker  My NewsSign Out Sign InCreate your free profileSections news Alerts as Germany counted the cost of the devastating floods and asked whether more could have been done to save lives A man looks over a pile of debris in Bad Muenstereifel Torrential rain last week led to severe flooding and destruction across western Europe wreaking havoc in parts of Belgium and the Netherlands and leaving Germany reeling from its worst natural disaster in decades Two brothers weep in each other's arms in front of their parents' house which was destroyed by the flood in Altenahr Residents cross a flooded area between Bergen and Nieuw Bergen on a shuttle service operated by the Dutch army A resident walks in a street full of debris and mud in the city of Dernau Rescue workers scrambled on July 17 to find survivors and victims of the devastation wreaked by the worst floods to hit western Europe in living memory which have already left more than 150 people dead and dozens more missing Workers assess the damage during a cleanup operation in Schuld A young resident helps clean-up outside his home in the town of Rochefort which was completely destroyed in Bad Neuenahr stands outside his flooded home in the town of Brommelen European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visits a site affected by floods Submerged cars and other vehicles in Erftstadt Driftwood and debris is seen along the banks of the river Ahr in Altenahr Soldiers of the German armed forces search for victims in submerged vehicles on the federal highway in Erftstadt People walk through the debris in the pedestrian zone in Bad Muenstereifel A British red telephone box in the flooded pedestrian zone of Bad Muenstereifel on Friday the devastation appeared to have exceeded that caused by disastrous flooding in eastern Germany almost 20 years ago A man takes pictures of the devastated area in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler The death toll in Germany is the highest of any natural catastrophe since a deadly North Sea flood in 1962 that killed around 340 people A man rows a boat down a residential street after flooding in Angleur Debris hangs on a damaged bridge Friday over the Ahr River in Schuld The flooded camping site Jachthaven Hatenboer on Friday in Roermond A woman is carried through a flooded street Friday in Angleur A woman looks at cars and rubble piled up in a street Friday in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler A couple hug as they stand amid debris in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler People use rubber rafts in floodwaters after the Meuse River broke its banks during heavy flooding in Liege Cars piled up at a roundabout Thursday in the Belgian city of Verviers Partially submerged caravans and campers at the camping site of De Hatenboer in Roermond Water runs past a house and a car covered in rubble Thursday in Hagen Two men search the debris of houses destroyed by the floods in Schuld near Bad Neuenahr The Ahr River flows past destroyed houses Thursday in Insul Firefighters stand on the roof of their vehicle Thursday as they climb into an inundated house in the flooded Ehrang neighborhood in Trier Almost 200 dead, many still missing after floods as Germany counts devastating cost The scars are still visible a year on in valley which suffered more than half the deaths from the flooding disaster that hit Europe on 14 and 15 July 2021 The dramatic floods of 14 and 15 July 2021 killed more than 220 people in Europe, leaving a trail of destruction in Germany and Belgium Western Germany was worst-hit by the flooding The state of Rhineland-Palatinate registered 49 deaths while North Rhine-Westphalia said 135 were killed The total cost of the damage in Germany is estimated to be more than €30bn (£25bn) residents are still waiting for the return of normal life a year after the devastation of deadly flash flooding Debris from last year’s floods still lies on a destroyed railway line in the village of Dernau in the Ahr valley Photograph: Michael Probst/APAbout 18,000 inhabitants were affected by the disaster in this once picturesque town in western Germany known for its thermal baths The anniversary of the night of 14 July will be marked on Thursday with a visit by the German chancellor will be able to show Scholz roads cleared of the muck and debris strewn by the floodwaters that submerged Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler Photographs: Christof Stache and Ina Fassbender / AFP / GettyBut a return to the way things were “will still take time” with rebuilding very much a work in progress temporary roads that make life possible,” he says A damaged clock from last year’s floods hangs on a wall in the village of Schuld in July 2022 Photograph: Michael Probst/APNone of the 18 bridges that used to cross the Ahr river is functional yet with three temporary crossings installed in their place from the collapsed banks by the roadside to the high-water mark on many of the buildings While officials may want to rebuild things as quickly as possible they are also under pressure to make sure residents are protected from future floods “we are still living in the same dangerous situation as a year ago” This puts residents in a state of anxiety any time bad weather is forecast Photographs: Christof Stache and Ina Fassbender / AFP / GettyIn Germany The majority of the fatalities were in the Ahr valley which winds along 25 miles (40km) to where the river joins the Rhine to the south of Bonn A flood damaged bicycle path that goes through a tunnel near the village of Laach in July 2022 Photograph: Michael Probst/APOrthen is dismayed that protective measures to keep residents safe from future floods are subject to interminable bureaucratic discussions the houses that have been destroyed are not permitted to be rebuilt while those that were damaged can be repaired a municipality in the district of Ahrweiler Photographs: Christof Stache and Ina Fassbender / AFP / GettyMoreover town officials face a mountain of paperwork with Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler expected to submit 1,400 requests for reconstruction projects by the end of June 2023.“We won’t be able to,” Orthen says After a year of living in a “state of emergency” the mayor sees “disenchantment” and a “feeling of powerlessness” growing among his residents More than 2,000 people have left the town in the last year A flood damaged bridge over the Ahr river at the village of Rech in July 2022 Photograph: Michael Probst/APIn Rhineland-Palatinate only €500m in aid have been handed out of the total €15bn set aside The slow progress is an “affront to those affected” according to conservative state legislator Horst Gies In the neighbouring state of North Rhine-Westphalia €1.6bn in government support has been approved for use Photograph: Ina Fassbender / AFP / GettyIn the town of Sinzig about 9.3 miles from Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler candles have been lit in front of a former care home is still looking for a location to open a new facility “Our discussions with the mayor’s office and the local administration still haven’t produced anything,” says Ulrich van Bebber Frustration is building among those trying to rebuild their lives as promised help is slow to arrive “We want to exist in the eyes of Germany,” says Iris Münn-Buschow The ground floor of her home is still in the middle of repair works “Nobody has forgotten the Ahr valley and the other regions,” the minister president of Rhineland-Palatinate state, Malu Dreyer, said recently, stressing the extent of the work still left to do. We don’t flood you with panic-inducing headlines or race to be first We focus on being useful to you — breaking down the news in ways that inform We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today “These are the harbingers of climate change that have now arrived in Germany.” by Jariel Arvin LinkThe destruction in the pedestrian area of Bad Muenstereifel, western Germany, after heavy rain hit parts of the country, causing widespread flooding, on July 16, 2021. Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty ImagesAfter historic rainfall caused devastating flooding that killed more than 100 people in northwestern Europe and left more than 1,000 missing officials and scientists aren’t being coy about the main culprit: climate change In response to footage of the unfolding disaster, German Minister of the Environment Svenja Schulze announced “These are the harbingers of climate change that have now arrived in Germany.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the flooding “a clear indication of climate change” and “something that really That European officials would draw a direct line between this extreme weather event and climate change may not be such a surprise, given that it happened just a day after the European Union announced a sweeping set of proposals to address the climate emergency — proposals that are likely to face stiff opposition from many sectors including less-affluent EU countries or those that rely heavily on fossil fuels A catastrophic weather event hitting right after those proposals were announced certainly helps EU officials illustrate why such ambitious policies are needed But it’s not just officials making the connection between the floods in Europe and a warming planet: Even scientists who in the past have been hesitant to explicitly link any one extreme weather event with climate change are clearly stating that climate change likely played a role here “The rainfall we’ve experienced across Europe over the past few days is extreme weather whose intensity is being strengthened by climate change — and will continue to strengthen further with more warming,” Friederike Otto of the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford told German news outlet DW the more extreme weather events that happen the more opportunities scientists have to learn about just how bad the impact of climate change really is There are two main links between climate change and extreme rainfall events like the one in northwestern Europe. First, as Hayley Fowler, professor of climate change impacts in the School of Engineering at Newcastle University, told me, a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture. “According to the Clausius-Clapeyron equation a one-degree rise in temperature has the potential to give you a 7 percent increase in the intensity of rainfall,” Fowler said “The second point is that the [Earth’s] poles are increasing in temperature at two to three times the rate of the equator,” Fowler said “weakens the jet stream of the mid-latitudes the weakening of the jet stream has a knock-on effect causing slower-moving storms So there’s a double whammy of increasing intensity And that kind of double whammy can have devastating impacts on the land and infrastructure “All this happened very fast, and I’ve never experienced a situation which developed that fast,” Tanja Krok, head of volunteering service in the German Red Cross in North Rhine-Westphalia, told me. She’s been working in the region for nearly 30 years. “In 2002, we had flooding in the east of Germany but it impacted one region and developed slowly,” Krok said The powerful flow of water has also caused landslides leaving some roads unusable if not completely washed away “We’ve never had landslides before We feel like our houses here are stable and fixed It’s not often that you see houses collapse,” Krok said In addition to climate change, experts have also pointed to communication failures in the European Flood Awareness System The German weather service issued warnings for the event on Monday The hydrological services in Germany also issued a warning experts have said that the problem is not as much forecasting as communicating the severe impacts of flooding events to the greater population “Over 100 people should not have died in a flood in Germany. That shouldn’t happen in Western Europe in 2021,” she said. Speight, who works at the nexus of hydrology and meteorology to understand how the weather will cause flooding, thinks the high loss of life could be because people did not understand the seriousness of the warnings. And as extreme weather events like these become more and more common, learning how to communicate the danger effectively will be even more critical. “Across the world, we need to get better prepared for these kinds of events,” Speight said. “Everybody can learn lessons from the flood in Germany and see how they can apply them to improve to be more prepared in their own countries.” But while early-warning systems can help reduce the loss of life, the ultimate answer is for humans to stop emitting carbon dioxide and other planet-warming greenhouse gases. “The climate is warming, and it will keep on warming as long as we emit CO2. Last time I checked, we’re still emitting huge amounts of CO2,” Geert Jan van Oldenborgh, a visiting professor at Oxford University who studies the impact of climate change on extreme weather events, said. Understand the world with a daily explainer plus the most compelling stories of the day, compiled by news editor Sean Collins. The aggressive push to privatize public lands, explained. A federal program killed nearly 2 million wild animals last year. The reason might surprise you. Why early season heat waves are becoming more common and more dangerous. The first stores in Bad Münstereifel have already opened. This weekend, 34 City Outlet stores, such as Robert Ley, Kneipp and sigikid, will also celebrate their reopening. He sees the success of the rapid reconstruction, barely a year after the flood wreaked havoc here, as a collective achievement. "We proclaimed June 30 as the reopening date very early on. But then the city and independent retailers and restaurateurs and, above all, the many craftsmen also worked towards this goal," says Dürr. The fact that the grand opening has now been postponed to August 14 doesn't disillusion anyone: "I'm sure that visitors will have a great day here once again.” On August 13 and 14, the town of Bad Münstereifel will host a large family festival for young and old, with numerous attractions such as face painting for children and a historical carousel. Following a pandemic and flooding pause, the official opening of this first traditional market with merchants, artists and musicians will be held by the mayor and a band on Saturday, August 13, at 12 noon in front of the St. Michael High School. The City Outlet Bad Münstereifel officially reopens with Sunday shopping and many special discounts. It also marks the eighth year of the outlet. In addition, the foundation stone for a new building in Trierer Strasse will also be laid on this day. The 1000-square-meter new complex is to house four more outlet brands from fall 2023 or spring 2024. Like the retail stores, it will also have a parking deck with around 25 charging stations for e-vehicles and a training center. This Page Has Washed AwayLooks like this page has disappeared with the tide — perhaps it’s buried in the sand at Vazon or drifting off Petit Port!