Ms. Krätz, how did you experience last night in the Ahrweiler district, which was devastated by the floods?

Martin Franke

Editor on duty at FAZ.NET.

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Around 1.30 a.m. there was a huge bang that woke us all up.

And then we saw the water come up from below.

The neighbors below came up to us.

Then we were here for the first time and couldn't do anything.

It rained heavily.

A little later the fire brigade came by boat.

A family in the neighborhood who was up to their chests in water was rescued.

We heard her shout: “Help, I'm scared!” We panicked because we didn't know how fast the water would rise.

Around four o'clock it stopped raining.

But we could only watch.

Fortunately, we are fine.

what did you see?

We saw the cars criss-crossing the streets.

My car swam away too.

They were all wedged together and pushed into a pile, including a trailer and a huge container.

The extent is unbelievable, there was an unimaginable force that reigned here.

Where is your car now?

I can still see it from here on the balcony.

It's back there somewhere.

The water was up to the roof.

Everything inside is completely full of mud, and there is also some water in it.

This is a total write-off.

What do you see when you look outside now?

You see people on the street who are already starting to clean up.

Children are of course curious and run around here.

Right in front of my door, a car is squeezed between a stone and a tree, in front of which there is a pile of wooden rubble.

I see a lot of oil in the water.

So brown water with puddles of oil on top and mud everywhere.

There are many helicopters in the sky.

In Heimersheim, only a strip of three to four streets is affected.

That was basically the water from a tributary of the Ahr.

For example, there was no water in the parallel street.

How are things going now?

Are you and your family still trapped?

We have no electricity, no tap water and we can't go out.

The water is still at our door.

I assume it will be another hour or two before the water is gone.

Did you receive information from outside?

No, or I haven't noticed anything yet.

But here in the village there is already the technical relief organization, the fire brigade, also from outside.

What is really nice: You can see the farmers with their tractors trying to help.