The Social Democrats and the Greens would not be fulfilling their opposition duties if they missed this opportunity: three weeks before the North Rhine-Westphalian state elections, the all-important meeting is to take place this Friday in the flood investigation committee.

Due to the complexity of the matter, the opposition had not been able to capitalize on their only marginally exaggerated criticism of the black-yellow state government's flood crisis management last summer for months.

At the end of February, however, Environment Minister Ursula Heinen-Esser (CDU) gave them an election campaign gift.

When she was first questioned by the investigative committee, it came out that she had flown back to her second home in Mallorca shortly after the disaster with 49 deaths in North Rhine-Westphalia alone.

Instead of presenting the matter quickly and transparently, the minister maneuvered around, getting tangled up in various attempts at justification and contradictions.

When it became known at the beginning of April that two other ministerial colleagues had also flown to the Balearic Island for a weekend to celebrate the birthday of Heinen-Esser's husband, Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) pulled the emergency brake: the environment minister had to go.

Since then it has not been difficult for the opposition to keep things smoldering.

Heinen-Esser is scheduled to testify in the committee for a second time on Friday.

According to the opposition, however, the focus will not be on the former minister, but on Prime Minister Wüst, even though he has only been in office since October and although it is not he who has been called as a witness, but his head of state, Nathanael Liminski.

Above all, he should explain whether Wüst found out about the Balearic birthday round at the end of March or only at the beginning of April.

So the question is whether the three ministers kept their new boss in the dark for months, since when exactly Wüst knew about the Fiesta Mallorquina and how many days he might have been silent.

That's small.

But in the head-to-head race with SPD challenger Thomas Kutschaty, even minimal gains in terrain may be the deciding factor.

Fateful chain of misinterpretations

Meanwhile, the comprehensive investigation into the July flood threatens to fall by the wayside.

Because it's not just about the fact that before and during the devastating event there were serious problems with the information flow of the authorities and a fatal chain of misinterpretations.

Heinen-Esser was politically responsible for this, which would have been a much more valid reason for resignation than her stay in Mallorca.

It is also about the consistent reappraisal of long-term failures across legislatures.

At the latest since the Saxon flood of August 2002, those responsible in all other countries should have been aware of the dangerous scenario - a low pressure area is stubbornly established, heavy rain falls for days over a large catchment area of ​​rivers and streams with steep slopes and saturated soil.

Similar flash floods later occurred elsewhere.

Because of the progressing climate change, it was only a matter of time before it would also happen in North Rhine-Westphalia.

But no matter whether red-green ruled in Düsseldorf or black-yellow, flood protection was consistently neglected.

Unlike in other countries, a forecasting system only exists for a handful of the more than 430 risk flows and streams.

When there will finally be a central flood warning center in NRW is anyone's guess.

It seems grotesque that the Disaster Control Act, which came into force in 2016, does not give the country a leading role, even for large-scale events - although experts in the parliamentary hearing had asked for this.

This also explains why the authorities flew blind during the July flood.

Disaster control from a single source

As understandable as it is that the opposition wants to use "Mallorca-Gate" for itself, the danger is that a phenomenon that experts call flood dementia is promoted by focusing on the boulevard: After six months it is also with the authorities much already forgotten, after a year then most of it.

It has to be different this time.

No matter which coalition is formed in North Rhine-Westphalia after May 15, it has a lot to do.

There must finally be a nationwide crisis response center and a nationwide digital situation report.

It's not just about floods, but also about cyber attacks, blackouts, and all conceivable crises.

In times of climate change and war, NRW finally needs disaster protection from a single source.