ᐅ Condolences on the Flood Disaster

The images and footage in the media are terrible. It feels very close, because the rubble isn’t from the 1940s, nor are the scenes from the 1960s, and we are all, in a way, neighbors.

There are certainly some among us who are currently worried about their homes, properties, or even their lives. Whether it’s a new or old house, an apartment, a place they call home, or their family… I wish them strength, courage, and good luck—that you all get through this safely.

I’m at a loss for words. Every hour brings more terrible news… 🙁

Today we visited the supermarket in Rheinbach (we usually go there from Bonn). Rheinbach was quite badly affected as well.
It’s a huge store with almost everything you can imagine. Really massive. Almost like a shopping temple.
Feels like kilometers of refrigerated shelves.
Everything, absolutely everything was empty! There was nothing that needed refrigeration. We then learned that the power had gone out on Wednesday due to flooding. They had to throw away everything from the refrigerators and only just managed to reopen today.

It’s really terrible. We are right next to Altenahr, Euskirchen, Swisttal, and the surrounding areas.
On Thursday, from about 1:00 pm to 8:30 pm, we were busy saving the garden and garage or taking measures to prevent the terrace from flooding and water entering the house.
This is how it looked here in the afternoon. And the water kept rising:

At around 5:00 pm, the water was about 25 cm (10 inches) high at the garage door.
And we live on a hill! It was only rain, no stream, no pond, nothing like that.

At first, we tried to fight the water with a wet vacuum cleaner. No chance. The water kept rising even while vacuuming. Then at 5:30 pm, I went to the hardware store and bought a pump. It broke down by 7:30 pm. By 7:50 pm, I was back at the hardware store, but all pumps were sold out.
There was only a display model left, which was also incomplete. The poor sales assistant went through three(!) departments and MacGyver-style managed to put it together for me.
By 8:30 pm I connected this “new” pump.
The rain eased off, and in the end everything turned out okay.

I’ve never experienced anything like this in my 43 years.
At that time, we still had no idea what was happening around Bonn...
It was bad for us. For the first time, I felt what it really means when people say that nature is a force that cannot be opposed.

Now we are left humbled, shocked, and speechless when seeing what has happened to so many people...
There are no words.

The images from the flood-affected areas are truly shocking... I feel deeply for the poor people affected.

In the medium term, it will likely become necessary to remove high-risk flood zones from building plans and abandon some neighborhoods; climate change will make this unavoidable. For years, I have found it incredible how former floodplains and classic alluvial land as well as riverbank areas have been rezoned for commercial use and housing. It’s no better here in Switzerland. Areas prone to mudslides and known as “moving” slopes have also been heavily developed. In Germany and Belgium, this is now costing people their lives and livelihoods!

How wonderful that our billionaires are building rockets to open up space tourism – that will surely (!) stop climate change (note the irony).

My family lives in the region but was fortunate because the rainfall in their small area was not as heavy, so the local stream did not overflow its banks. However, of course, everyone knows the affected villages well, as most of them have often passed through those places.

Many of the affected villages have been established there for hundreds of years, so the disaster could not have been prevented by construction measures. However, I want to show these images to everyone who maximizes the sealing of their new building plots, even beyond the allowed floor area ratio, and prefers to build a 280 sqm (3,000 sq ft) bungalow instead of a two-story house.

Just yesterday, I had my home building and contents insurance extended to cover such risks; everything is always separate, but beforehand, they always talk about the "complete package"...

It’s really a sad situation... but I already see the whole world as sad, just thinking about how many people die from hunger while we throw away tons of food.

Keeping my fingers crossed for everyone!!!

We also have family "down there," but fortunately, they are not affected. My brother-in-law and his son are now continuously deployed with the THW.
This is truly unimaginable and hard to believe. Here, everyone is just lying in the sun...