The devastating July flood that killed more than 180 people in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia a year ago mercilessly revealed how badly Germany is prepared for large-scale disasters.

A dramatic problem in the acute phase was that there were no helicopters with winches for rescuing people.

Pure burger

Political correspondent in North Rhine-Westphalia.

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When the flood wave began on the upper reaches of the Ahr on the afternoon of July 14, firefighters were able to intercept a rescue helicopter that happened to be flying by.

However, because the helicopter did not have a winch, the pilot and paramedic strapped themselves together and lowered ropes to which firefighters tied vacationers at the flooded Stahlhütte campsite near Dorsel, who could then be pulled through the water to higher ground.

In the hours that followed, the deadly tidal wave rolled a good 60 kilometers down through the Ahr Valley towards the Rhine, killing 134 residents.

Extremely demanding manoeuvres

On the night of the flood, the authorities desperately tried to get helicopters with cable winches that could fly at night – initially without success.

Hours later, more than two dozen such aircraft were in use in the Ahr Valley.

A police helicopter was even flown in from far away Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Around 300 people could then be rescued from the air.

Unlike in Switzerland, where most helicopters are equipped with winches, for example for mountain rescue, there is a lack of this equipment in Germany.

Rhineland-Palatinate now wants to replace its two older police helicopters with suitably equipped new ones.

So far, Mainz has relied on administrative assistance from the Hesse Air Squadron, the German Armed Forces or Luxembourg.

The situation in North Rhine-Westphalia was hardly any better, where during the flood disaster only one of the total of six planes from the police squadron with a cable winch was on rescue missions.

There are now three winches, two of which are regularly operational and one under maintenance.

In addition, the concept of using a rescue hoist regulates the extensive aeronautical training.

Because rescue from the air is an extremely demanding maneuver in which the pilot and the so-called winch operator have to be a perfectly coordinated team so that the rescuer arrives at the end of the rope exactly where he is supposed to - for example on the roof of a house.

Such and other exercise scenarios will soon also be available regularly with the external air rescue forces of other organizations in different crew compositions.

In the event of a large-scale disaster, it is important to mobilize as many forces as possible as quickly as possible.

A year ago, the currently 18 helicopters of the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) were only of limited use.

“They are a great help when it comes to monitoring a situation or exploring a damaged area, they can quickly get medical help to places that are difficult to access and rescue the injured.

But when it comes to the external load, they quickly reach their technical limits," says North Rhine-Westphalian Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) in an interview with the FAZ

In fact, the civil defense helicopters of the federal government, which are distributed at twelve air rescue stations throughout Germany, have so far not had a winch, with a few exceptions.

At the initiative of North Rhine-Westphalia, the conference of interior ministers from the federal and state governments decided at the beginning of June that this should change.

However, the Federal Ministry of the Interior noted in a memorandum that the retrofitting and conversion of the existing fleet is also subject to budget restrictions, as is the procurement of additional civil defense helicopters.

Not only important for floods, but also for fires

The problem is not only with the cable winch rescue.

The BBK helicopters can also be used to a limited extent in forest fires.

Because they do not have a corresponding load hook, firefighting with large-volume extinguishing water tanks called Bambi Buckets is not possible.

The Ministry of the Interior in Düsseldorf says that aerial reconnaissance in search of embers or missing people has so far only been possible to a very limited extent because the BBK helicopters are not even intended for the use of thermal imaging cameras.

"Of course, new purchases or conversions don't happen overnight, so I think it's all the more important that the federal government starts doing it as soon as possible," says Reul.

Whether it's a flood disaster, a forest fire or another situation, the time factor is crucial.

"Each additional loop that a helicopter has to fly due to technical limitations is one too many." Figures from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) make it clear how much the risk of forest fires has increased in Germany.

According to this, more than 3130 hectares of forest area had already been destroyed by fire by the end of June, compared to a maximum of 1090 hectares in the past decade and a half up to this point.

North Rhine-Westphalia is trying to arm itself for the growing danger.

After several devastating fires in 2020, the police squadron stationed at Düsseldorf and Dortmund airports received four Bambi buckets, each with a capacity of at least 800 liters, in order to be able to quickly support the local fire brigades in forest fires.

16 helicopter pilots and nine operators are currently trained to fight fires from the air, which corresponds to eight crews.