Rescue operations are still running on Monday in the Ahr valley in the Eifel, which has been devastated by floods.

Some places have so far only been reached with amphibious vehicles, the population is still trapped there, according to the rescue workers.

On Monday this applied to Marienthal and Rech and Dernau.

Elsewhere, too, the situation is still catastrophic, the infrastructure is idle everywhere, there is a lack of water, electricity, gas and, in many places, there is still a lack of a mobile phone connection.

Meanwhile, the number of deaths in the Ahrweiler district in Rhineland-Palatinate is steadily increasing, according to police information it was 117 on Monday, at least 749 people were injured.

Timo Frasch

Political correspondent in Munich.

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Johannes Leithäuser

Political correspondent in Berlin.

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Stefan Locke

Correspondent for Saxony and Thuringia based in Dresden.

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Julian Staib

Political correspondent for Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland based in Wiesbaden.

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Local residents describe the disaster that struck them on Thursday night as a kind of wave.

Time and again, the water has dammed up due to trees and rubble being carried away - and then suddenly broke its path, it is said.

The level then rose at an insane rate.

Sure, there was a warning against flooding.

But no one was asked to leave the houses.

No sirens would have wailed.

In Bad Neuenahr it was said that the fire brigade drove in front of the houses along the Ahr on Wednesday evening and asked residents via loudspeakers to stay away from the water.

Not more.

A few hours later there was hardly a bridge left.

Is that why the authorities failed?

Nobody on site raises this allegation during the conversation.

The catastrophe is perceived here as so extraordinary that it was impossible to make any predictions.

This became clear when the Chancellor visited the affected area on Sunday.

Many residents were present at the press conference by Angela Merkel and the Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer in front of the town hall in Adenau.

The statements by Merkel and Dreyer were applauded again and again.

"All had activated their flood protection"

“We were actually well prepared,” said Dreyer. Rhineland-Palatinate has invested 1.2 billion euros in flood protection over the past 25 years, including in the Ahr Valley. The country has a “sophisticated flood system”, districts and municipalities are warned immediately that “everyone has activated their flood protection”. But with water levels twice as high and more than during the 2016 flood, that was of no use. Such a terrible situation has never been experienced. The water masses broke in "on a gigantic scale" over the villages.

Merkel had visited the heavily devastated village of Schuld, which is located on a loop in the Ahr. Schuld's local mayor, Helmut Lussi, did not raise any allegations either. Lussi said that there was heavy rain and flooding, and that they were prepared for water levels of three meters and more, as they had during the 2016 flood. In fact, the German Weather Service had published warnings several times before the flood, including extreme warnings and those of floods. Lussi spoke of a good warning system. But the flood exceeded all dimensions. “No flood protection would have helped us.” The water level of the Ahr rose to over eight meters within minutes.

When the wave sloshed through the Ahr valley, no sirens wailed, according to eyewitnesses. "The technical infrastructure was destroyed in one fell swoop," said the Rhineland-Palatinate Interior Minister Roger Lewentz. He spoke of a "momentary explosion of water". One could give the best warnings there. Lewentz was still in the operations management in Bad Neuenahr on Wednesday evening. Apparently, it was not foreseeable at the time that such a catastrophe would occur.