After the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley, there was sharp criticism of the lack of warnings.

This was also formulated on Südwestrundfunk.

As has now become known, however, on the day of the disaster, July 14, 2021, the broadcaster itself rejected an offer from TV meteorologist Karsten Schwanke to include a special program in view of the looming risk of flooding in the Eifel.

Julian Staib

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

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On Friday, Schwanke said in the investigative committee of the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament that on the afternoon of July 14 he had rejected the request from the state program SWR Baden-Württemberg for a special weather program with reference to a reduced risk of flooding in the Black Forest.

Instead, in view of the forecasts for heavy rain and flooding in the Eifel, he called the SWR in Mainz, more precisely the "SWR Aktuell" editors, and offered a special program for 7:36 p.m.

“It would have had a different weight”

He had never done this before, but at that time it was "definitely" foreseeable that there would be heavy rain and flooding in parts of the Eifel, said Schwenke.

"It's going to be bad in the Eifel," he said to his colleagues in Mainz, said Schwenke.

However, the SWR in Mainz rejected the offer and referred to the general weather report, which, as always, was planned for just before 8 p.m. and the start of the “Tagesschau”.

Schwenke then moderated this weather report, but the format of his presentation did not offer the opportunity for intensive warnings, after all, this report was also about weather forecasts and temperatures.

"If there had been an extra slot earlier, I would only have talked about the amount of flooding in the Eifel," said Schwenke to the FAZ on Friday.

The SWR said on request that Schwanke's statements had been taken note of: "It is known that not all processes worked smoothly and satisfactorily on the day of the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley.

The SWR itself has an interest in learning from the experiences of the day and investigates all possible weak points.”

Schwanke also said at the meeting of the investigative committee, "we knew two days in advance that there could be a flood situation in the Ahr valley".

Around 8 or 9 p.m. on the evening of July 14, “there was enough time to get people out of there”.

In the flood disaster in Rhineland-Palatinate on the night of July 14/15, 134 people died and more than 700 were injured. Many people were surprised by the floods while they were sleeping.

The investigative shot in the state parliament is currently investigating why the authorities gave insufficient warnings.