Germany Rebuilds After Historic Flooding in 2021

One late night in July 2021, thousands in Germany awoke to torrents of water raging through their homes. Rain from the day had rushed into the Ahr river. The rain fell, glancing off steep mountain slopes and the high hills of the vineyards. This rain rapidly collected into what once could be described as a quaint stream. This small stream overflowed its banks and the worst flooding in 100 to possibly 500 years hit the towns below. 

Around 10 PM, a local resident began noticing water on the streets. They quickly informed their neighbors and scrambled to higher ground. By 11 PM, the water that was on the road had now flooded the entire ground floor of their homes and was splashing into the second floor. Depending on their location from the river, some homes received anywhere from 5 to 20 feet of water, which easily reached the second floor (referred to as the first floor in the European region). 

After the water rose 5 to 20 feet in an hour, it steadily returned to its banks. By morning, the water was out of the homes, leaving behind trees, grass, debris, destroyed family belongings, and mud, lots of mud. The speed of the water led to enormous amounts of sediment being picked up and carried into homes. 

As the sun began to rise images flooded social media platforms and news sites. Fields and streets turned into canyons as water rushed through places that hadn’t seen flooding in recent history.

Rapidly rising water left a trail of destruction throughout many German cities.
Flooded bridge in Germany
Many of the bridges connecting villages were destroyed. Helicopters frequently passed overhead for weeks rescuing people and bringing supplies.

Note: I have volunteered or been employed by several disaster relief organizations. Some of these organizations may be included below. The thoughts and opinions contained here are my own view and do not necessarily represent their views.

Recovery

The recovery process has been moving along swiftly in the town I have been working in. There are several factors contributing to this: houses are smaller, they do not have drywall and insulation, there was a huge volunteer presence in the first few weeks. 

Local farmers were some of the first responders to the flood cleanup process. Over a month later, they were still driving their tractors up and down the streets, helping with debris removal. 

An initial hurdle to the recovery process was organization. Germany rarely organizes large disaster responses. They have very few weather threats, forest fires are rare, and they build their homes out of concrete instead of wood. With very few threats of disaster, their response system was not nearly as developed or robust as the United States. 

Volunteers 

Volunteers use hammer drills (basically mini jackhammers) to remove thick plaster walls

The Real Life Guys are the German version of Mark Rober & Dude Perfect. They have a YouTube channel that features them building a roller coaster in their backyard, flying in a bathtub, and ice skating with chainsaw-powered ice-skates. One of their brothers recently passed away from cancer. He posted an encouraging message beforehand letting people know he wasn’t afraid to die because of his faith in Christ.

The Real Life Guys have over 1.4 million subscribers on YouTube. They recruited a massive amount of help within the first couple of weeks to support the cities’ recovery efforts. 

The THW was another of the first organizations seen. It is difficult to compare them to a similar group in the United States.  

Their name translates as “Federal Agency for Technical Relief”. They have access to a lot of heavy equipment and people with expertise in specific areas. If you need a jackhammer, find one of these guys and they can bring one down and run it or let you use it. They’ve been very handy in recent weeks!

The Red Cross is also in Germany, but looks very different. They have more responsibility for day-to-day activities like medical calls.

To All Nations and Samaritan’s Purse continued to provide support for those affected by the flooding even after they had finished partnering with The Real Life Guys. The support evolved as we worked through the different phases of disaster.

To All Nations and Samaritan’s Purse have been organizing and recruiting volunteers. Both groups are providing resources and equipment to the volunteers and those affected by the flooding. Volunteers were initially scooping buckets of mud from homes and removing debris. This progressed to tearing out very thick plaster and concrete down to the concrete blocks of the interior walls.

Volunteers work to remove contaminated plaster from the walls and clear debris out of flooded buildings.

Stories 

The German countryside was one of the most beautiful sights I have seen. Everywhere we drove, there were lush green mountains covered in vineyards with quaint villages scattered throughout the hills. 

The mud went up about 10 inches in many basements (kellers in German). We removed most of this using bucket brigades. It was very dirty work. One of my teammates was disappointed when she didn’t get muddy the first day out there. She fixed that the second day as we cleaned out a flooded basement under a school! 

The people affected by the flooding were so thankful to have help. Our team helped one elderly lady for several days. She thanked me repeatedly and had a long conversation with me in German. As you work in disaster relief, you realize that so many people just need someone to hear their stories and talk through the event. Listening is one of the most important things a disaster relief worker can do to help in the healing process. Apparently, understanding the language may not even be that crucial. 

As we continued to work with the lady mentioned above she mentioned needing cardboard boxes for her belongings. We went out and purchased them for her. I came back with them and she started crying, hugged me repeatedly, and thanked me over and over. As a disaster relief worker, it is such a blessing to see the joy that just a few simple things can bring. I owe someone who donated 20 dollars a really big hug from a very appreciative lady.   

Language

English is a required language in school for Germans. Most people under 40 have a pretty good understanding of English, though many are reluctant to use it.

When I travel to other countries, I attempt to learn at least ten words in their language. My set of ten words changes with different deployments. These were some of my favorite German words. 

Gummistiefel – Rubber Boots. We used these a lot in the first couple of weeks.

Dixie – The brand name of their Porta-Potties here.

Essen – Food 🙂 

Genau – Exactly/Right

Bagger – Excavator

Wasser – Water

Culture

Beautiful country side
Wheatfields overlooking rolling hills

On a drive through the country, one of the first things an American would notice is how much smaller the roads are. The country’s infrastructure is built with walking and biking in mind. While most roads through the city have two lanes for traffic, about an equal amount of sidewalks are available between both sides of the road as generous sidewalks and bike lanes.

If you order water in Germany, you will get sparkling water. They have different strengths of sparkling water for you to choose from. To get regular water, try asking for still wasser or requesting water without gas.   

Danke (Thank You)

Disaster relief is a highly rewarding endeavor. The culture and scenery can be the cherry on top. Regardless of where and who you serve, it’s amazing to see people’s lives forever changed and hope instilled by just giving a few moments of your time. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all that serve others in need or donate to allow us to continue providing hope. 

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