The first figures make it clear how immensely the infrastructure was hit by the flood disaster in western Germany.

In the Rhineland-Palatinate district of Ahrweiler, 62 bridges were completely destroyed and 13 others were badly damaged.

14 out of 16 schools in the Ahr valley can no longer be used, 19 daycare centers have been destroyed.

The road and rail lines were also washed away.

That said the Interior Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate Roger Lewentz (SPD) on Thursday at a joint special meeting of the committees for the interior, climate and finance in the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament.

The damage was "colossal, apocalyptic", the dimension of the catastrophe was "completely new" for Rhineland-Palatinate and beyond, said Lewentz.

Julian Staib

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

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According to Prime Minister Malu Dreyer (SPD) in Rhineland-Palatinate, 128 people were killed in the disaster, more than 760 were injured and 155 are still missing.

The rescue workers have meanwhile largely given up hope of being able to rescue missing people alive.

Many people in the region are still cut off from drinking water, electricity and gas, as well as from telephone connections.

"This catastrophe will shape our country for a long time," said Dreyer on Thursday.

The reconstruction will be tedious and cost a lot of money.

A “national effort” is necessary for this.

The state government provides the people affected with a maximum of 3500 euros of emergency aid per household, which is to be paid out without a means test. In addition, the state, together with the federal government, is making 200 million euros available for reconstruction. According to Dreyer, 8.57 million euros have been received in the state's central donation account alone. The money should also go to those affected via the districts and municipalities.

Dreyer repeated her statement that the country is actually well positioned when it comes to flooding. “But no dam could stop this tidal wave”, the water came “like a tsunami”, according to Dreyer. The scenes on site exceeded "what even the most experienced rescuers have ever seen". Lewentz pointed out in the state parliament that there had been warnings from the German Weather Service about extremely heavy continuous rain and high water levels. The warning of the population is due to the local self-government "compulsory task" of the local authorities. According to Lewentz, warnings about the catastrophe were issued via the Katwarn app, and there are also many reports of sirens in the region that were attacked. However, some people might have misjudged the warnings or not at all. There are many things in the areathat have to be readjusted, ”says Lewentz. As a result of the flood, communication later “collapsed”, and many buildings with sirens “no longer exist today”, says Lewentz. He described the burden on the emergency services as still enormous. As of Wednesday, 1050 police officers, more than 850 soldiers and around 3500 fire and disaster relief workers from all over Germany were on duty.more than 850 soldiers and around 3500 fire and disaster relief workers from all over Germany were on duty.more than 850 soldiers and around 3500 fire and disaster relief workers from all over Germany were on duty.

Climate and environmental protection minister Anne Spiegel (Greens) pointed out on Thursday in the state parliament that flood forecasting is now quite precise for large rivers, but not for small rivers such as the Ahr or even creeks. Spiegel described the catastrophe as an event "far beyond a hundred-year flood", even creeks and the smallest rivers, which normally have a water level of one meter or less, have swelled to six to seven meters and more. "Protection from such devastating amounts of water is not possible," said Spiegel.

According to her, several sewage treatment plants in the Ahr valley were damaged or possibly completely destroyed, for example the one in Sinzig. The city of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler's sewage works is also badly damaged, according to the city. In addition to the drinking water pipes, the sewage pipes were also destroyed in many places. The remaining sewers are clogged with sludge in many places. On site, the water of the Ahr and the sludge that the floods have left in the buildings and the landscape clearly stink of fuel. In many places, the oil tanks in flooded houses were flooded, petrol stations and company production facilities were also destroyed. According to the local water and nature conservation authorities, toxins, heating oil and chemicals are said to have entered the water.The technical relief organization has now set up systems for the treatment of drinking water at several locations along the Ahr.