BERLIN \u2014 German officials are defending their preparations for flooding in the face of the raging torrents that caught many people by surprise and left over 190 people dead in Western Europe, but concede that they will need to learn lessons from the disaster.<\/p>\n
Efforts to find any more victims and clean up the mess across a swath of western Germany, eastern Belgium and the Netherlands continued Monday as floodwaters receded. So far, 117 people have been confirmed dead in the worst-affected German region, Rhineland-Palatinate; 46 in the neighboring state of North Rhine-Westphalia; and at least one in Bavaria, parts of which saw heavy rain and flooding over the weekend. At least 31 people died in Belgium.<\/p>\n
The downpours that led to usually small rivers swelling at vast speed in the middle of last week were forecast, but warnings of potentially catastrophic damage didn\u2019t appear to have found their way to many people on the ground \u2014 often in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as we have provided the immediate aid that stands at the forefront now, we will have to look at whether there were things that didn\u2019t go well, whether there were things that went wrong, and then they have to be corrected,\u201d Economy Minister Peter Altmaier told the Bild newspaper. \u201cThat isn\u2019t about finger-pointing \u2014 it\u2019s about improvements for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Federal and state authorities faced criticism from opposition politicians for allegedly failing to warn citizens of the impending disaster, which came ahead of a national election in September. But Interior Minister Horst Seehofer dismissed claims that federal officials had made mistakes, and said warnings were passed to local authorities \u201cwho make decisions on disaster protection.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to say that some of the things I\u2019m hearing now are cheap election rhetoric,\u201d Seehofer said during a visit to the Steinbach Reservoir in western Germany, where authorities said Monday they no longer fear a dam breach. \u201cNow really isn\u2019t the hour for this.\u201d<\/p>\n
The head of Germany\u2019s civil protection agency said that the country\u2019s weather service had \u201cforecast relatively well\u201d and that the country was well-prepared for flooding on its major rivers.<\/p>\n
But, Armin Schuster told ZDF television late Sunday, \u201chalf an hour before, it is often not possible to say what place will be hit with what quantity\u201d of water. He said that 150 warning notices had been sent out via apps and media.<\/p>\n
He said \u201cwe will have to investigate\u201d where sirens sounded and where they didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Officials in Germany\u2019s Rhineland-Palatinate state said they were well-prepared for flooding, and municipalities were alerted and acted.<\/p>\n
But the state\u2019s interior minister, Roger Lewentz, said after visiting the hard-hit village of Schuld with Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday that \u201cwe of course had the problem that the technical infrastructure \u2014 electricity and so on \u2014 was destroyed in one go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Local authorities \u201ctried very quickly to react,\u201d he said. \u201cBut this was an explosion of the water in moments. \u2026 You can have the very best preparations and warning situations (but) if warning equipment is destroyed and carried away with buildings, then that is a very difficult situation.\u201d Cellphone networks also were knocked out by the flooding.<\/p>\n
There were already broader questions about Germany\u2019s emergency warning system after a nationwide test last September, the first in 30 years, largely failed. Sirens didn\u2019t sound in many places, or had been removed after the end of the Cold War, and push alerts from the national warning app arrived late or not all.<\/p>\n
Schuster, the head of the civil protection agency, noted that a program to reform civil protection was launched earlier this year, including a drive to encourage local authorities to install more sirens. Germany doesn\u2019t have a text messaging system for disaster warnings, but Schuster told Deutschlandfunk radio it is exploring the possibility.<\/p>\n
As local communities contemplate the huge task of rebuilding smashed homes and infrastructure such as the water system, Chancellor Angela Merkel\u2019s Cabinet is set to draw up a package of immediate and medium-term financial aid on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
At the Steinbach Reservoir, North Rhine-Westphalia state governor Armin Laschet said the dam was designed for a risk that might occur once in 10,000 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was exceeded in the last few days,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cIt was a likelihood nobody had foreseen.\u201d<\/p>\n
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