After the devastating floods, people in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia are concerned about the weather forecast for the weekend.

"At the moment I have no indications that there is a risk of water volumes as it was the case," said the interior minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, Roger Lewentz (SPD), in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler on Friday.

Nevertheless, the crisis team is taking precautions.

According to Lewentz, opportunities for the population to retreat are prepared as well as possible loudspeaker announcements for warnings.

One observes the reporting situation "very, very carefully", he added.

North Rhine-Westphalia is also preparing for possible new heavy rainfalls.

According to a ministry spokesman for the German Press Agency in Düsseldorf, the control centers of the fire brigade and police would be sensitized again to the weather situation by decree of the NRW interior ministry.

“The work in the crisis teams in the cities and districts will continue on the weekend to coordinate the situation on site.

The same applies to the coordination group of the crisis team in the Ministry of the Interior. "

German weather service expects thunderstorms

So far, the flood disaster has claimed 179 lives.

The German Weather Service expects thunderstorms again in the flood disaster areas in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate on Saturday.

However, the amount of rain will mostly remain below the warning threshold, it said on Friday.

In order to be able to react better in the future, CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt has meanwhile spoken out in favor of a permanent national crisis team.

"A permanent crisis team for natural disasters in a combination of the federal and state levels should be used," said the CSU politician of the Passauer Neue Presse newspaper.

He considers the federal structures to be correct, but "pooling all information is also very important," argued Dobrindt.

From the perspective of the ex-transport minister, it can be seen that the restoration of communication on site took far too long.

“Cellular networks have to work in the event of a crisis.

A mobile "communication" assembly team should be set up and deployed immediately, for example with drones and mobile radio cells if the cell phone networks collapse in a crisis, "says Dobrindt.

Praise for helpfulness and solidarity

The former EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker praised the helpfulness and solidarity of the Germans. In a conversation with the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, he emphasized the “unlikely volume of solidarity”. The Luxembourger added: “That was proven years ago during the Oder floods and is now evident again in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate.” People are capable of big things when there are big problems: “And the Germans help with that set a good example of their willingness to help one another. And that's an impressive collective achievement by the Germans. "

There was a great willingness to donate for those affected by the disaster on Friday at the ARD donation day: The preliminary balance of the ARD charity gala “We hold together” in the evening was 6,538,000 euros. Together with another 10 million that were collected as part of the “Aktion Deutschland hilft” donation day, more than 16.5 million euros were raised for the victims of the flood disaster, reported moderator Ingo Zamperoni. Numerous artists such as Herbert Grönemeyer, Sarah Connor and Peter Maffay supported the fundraising.

The musician Rea Garvey also thanked the volunteers. "I'm incredibly proud of those who get up in the morning and say: Today I'll go there to help my neighbors," said the singer during his performance at the gala on Friday evening in Leipzig. These people are heroes. The 48-year-old sang his song "Hometown" (German hometown) on the show and called for the victims of the flood to be supported wherever possible. "Some go and help, some donate, some make music," says Garvey. It is important to keep going and not to forget those affected.