Vermüllte Ahr

Hélas, ça dure !

Das wird die Flut gewesen sein - aber dass es fast ein Jahr später immer noch da liegt, spricht Bände...

Our government isn't nearly as efficient and quick as most people believe. Just today I found a piece on the web where a journalist describes her impressions about a week after the flood. Her impression during the early clean-up activities: society in Germany - I'd like to add: mostly in rural Germany - still works very well. Volunteers came from near and far to help. Farmers, truck drivers, construction contractors and others came with their machines to clear streets from mud and rubble. Supermarket owners provided free water, food and other needed items. One event manager provided his managing skills to organize a "helpers' shuttle", to get volunteers to the places where help was needed most. And of course voluntary fire brigades rushed to the site to clears basements from water - near our house, I met guys of the voluntary fire brigade of my god mother's hometown, about a three hour drive from our valley. Later, wine makers from other parts of the country helped our wine makers to bring in the harvest, and as most cellars were destroyed here, they made the wines in theirs. All the while, as that journalist noted just as we locals did, the government was almost visibly absent. One day, I tried to find the place where someone provided warm meals, because one of our neighbours, an elderly woman who couldn't leave the house, still had to wait a few days for her daughter to pick her up, and she asked if I could organize someone to bring her a warm meal. I bumped into a group of police - usually an organization to talk to when in need. Turned out they were from a different region and had no knowledge of our city whatsoever. And of course they weren't accompanied by a single officer with local knowledge... And when the government did something, it was more like one neighbour told me later on: groups of officers went after voluntary helpers because they didn't wear anti Covid masks...

So many thanks for your replay, Marco