Germans face second clean-up in 13 months
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Bonn (Reuter) - Germans hit by the worst floods this century yesterday tackled the mammoth task of cleaning up the mess for the second time in 13 months.
The rivers Rhine, Main and Mosel, which had submerged whole towns and villages when they burst their banks last week, continued falling by up to five centimetres an hour helped by dry, bright weather.
Long-suffering residents from Cologne to Koblenz and small Bavarian communities in the south knuckled down to work, scraping thick layers of mud off their walls and counting the cost of the damage to their homes and businesses. Preliminary estimates put the damage at around 1.5 bn marks (£640m), little of which is covered by insurance.
Cologne's Catholic Archbishop, Joachim Meisner, said the church would provide DM1m in aid.
Although flooding ebbed in most of Germany, a state of emergency was still in force in the town of Kleve near the Dutch border. Rescue workers there had evacuated thousands of residents amid fears that a dike over the border could collapse. "We are cautiously optimistic," said a local official.
Some flood victims are facing new repair bills when they have barely finished paying off loans they took out after the floods of Christmas 1993.
Barbara Hendricks, a Social Democrat MP, said flood victims had been disappointed with the lack of sufficient public help after the 1993 floods. "This cannot happen again," she said. "The federal and regional governments are obliged to give swift and unbureaucratic help."
In France, flood damage to a key foundry owned by Peugeot-Citroen has brought the car manufacturer's assembly operations to a halt, affecting about 50,000 workers. The foundry at Charleville near the Belgian border shut down on Monday night after the river Meuse overran its banks. The foundry is not expected to be back in operation before next Tuesday.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments