Sunday, November 7th, 2021
Report on the flood disaster in 2021
Record rain caused record losses
The flood disaster caused by heavy rains in summer caused damage that dwarfs all previous events of this kind. One report speaks of almost 30 billion euros. Germany cannot rely on financial aid from the EU to deal with the consequences.
According to a media report, the flood disaster in parts of Germany in July caused record damage of 29.2 billion euros. The German government reported this amount of damage to the EU Commission, the newspapers of the Funke media group reported, citing government information. The amount is therefore mentioned in an application submitted by Germany for financial aid from the EU Solidarity Fund for support after natural disasters.
This means that the amount of damage is several times higher than in the flood disasters in 2002 and 2013, according to the Funke report. A little more than half of the damage is attributable to Rhineland-Palatinate, more than 40 percent to North Rhine-Westphalia, the rest to Bavaria and Saxony.
In addition to Germany, the countries also affected by the floods in July, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Austria, applied to the EU Commission for aid from the Solidarity Fund. The EU Commission will now evaluate the applications, Funke reported, citing a letter from EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
However, the damage apparently went beyond the scope of the EU Solidarity Fund, which has so far only had an annual volume of just under 1.3 billion euros and includes, among other things, emergency aid for third countries. Germany alone could theoretically expect a financial contribution of 1 to 1.5 billion euros. The fund monies for this year have already been spent or planned, except for a remaining amount of 40.7 million euros.
MEP calls for an increase in funds
“It is an unbearable state of affairs that the EU is still unable to help the people in the countries affected by the flood in the summer,” said Green MEP Rasmus Andresen. The EU member states now have to make more money available for the EU budget in 2022 so that the EU can fulfill its task in the event of disasters. Especially against the background of climate change, this is “indispensable”.
Heavy rains had triggered catastrophic flooding on rivers in mid-July, especially in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. Many communities were devastated. In Rhineland-Palatinate, 133 people were killed in connection with the flood. There were 48 deaths in North Rhine-Westphalia.