In the Ahrweiler district there are many hard-to-see places, but nowhere did the floods rage as much as in Schuld: Six houses tore away the water masses, and many more seriously damaged them.
Many of the residents are already active on Sunday morning, shoveling the brown mud out of their houses and tipping it down the embankment with wheelbarrows.
There is hammering on a bridge that is only in fragments;
scaffolding on the bridge is to temporarily connect the two districts again.
Rescue workers can be seen everywhere, perhaps also because, unlike many other places along the Ahr in the north of Rhineland-Palatinate, Schuld is easily accessible: vehicles from the technical relief organization are there, along with clearing armor from the Bundeswehr, fire brigade and police.
Julian Staib
Political correspondent for Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland based in Wiesbaden.
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Chancellor Angela Merkel will arrive on Sunday afternoon to, as it is said in advance, to get an idea of the situation.
She will be welcomed by the Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer, State Interior Minister Roger Lewentz and the local mayor of Schuld, Helmut Lussi.
At least, he says to Merkel at the beginning of the walk through the village, miraculously there were no dead or missing in the village.
Overall, however, the number of reported fatalities in the region is steadily increasing.
Dreyer Sonntag puts it at 112.
Around 670 people were injured, according to police.
Numerous people are still missing.
In total, at least 150 people were killed in the storm in western Germany.
The search for missing people continues
In the Ahrweiler district, the situation is tense on Sunday too; Helicopters fly missions, sirens can be heard again and again, ambulances and fire engines with flashing lights also drive past the group of politicians. However, in all calls for reconstruction, even on Sundays, the focus is still on saving people; According to the police, photos of the affected area were last taken from the air, and with the help of the photos, the rescue workers on the ground are now systematically searching the river area.
Merkel walks through the town with Dreyer, past the houses marked by the flood. Both speak to residents, thank the rescue workers. The damage is "immense", there are problems with gas tanks that are being excavated, report fire fighters. Most places along the Ahr are still cut off from electricity, gas and water. Power cables stick out from the mud along the river, power boxes are destroyed on the ground, and there are warnings about electric shocks. At least partially, the cellular network came back on Sunday. The rescue workers report to Merkel and Dreyer that the technical relief organization is building a water treatment plant. The water supply is a central problem. The reconstruction of the lines takes time. Dreyer says it will take "months" before it becomes "viable here again".