During a visit to flooded Reichertshofen, Chancellor Scholz and Bavaria’s Prime Minister Söder expressed their sympathy and promised support. But residents of the flood-hit village were disappointed.
Major impact in the flood area: On Monday morning, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (both SPD), together with Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder and his Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (both CSU), will visit the particularly affected town of Reichertshofen in the Pfaffenhofen district.
For several minutes, the top politicians listened to emergency services describe the situation on the market square and the drama of the previous day at the Paar Bridge. Just a few hours earlier, they would have been standing knee-deep in water, explained Mayor Michael Franken. Within a few minutes, the river had overflowed its banks by around 40 centimetres. In front of a flooded sandbag wall, the group looked out at the still raging river, Scholz kept asking questions and gesticulating. “He was very interested,” was the impression of District Fire Chief Christian Nitschke after he had described the scenes to the Chancellor and his entourage.
But the first faux pas came right at the start: while the press entourage crowded around the high-ranking visitors, a resident complained about the government cars on the street. They blocked through traffic and quickly left after the objection. Even on a walk through the town, around 700 meters along Münchner Straße to the fire station, the group did not make a good impression. Söder and Scholz talked continuously, not even glancing at the side streets that were still flooded. No stops, no conversation. What is clear, however, is that this is not the first time Söder has visited the flood areas, but has already been there several times, for example with Economics Minister Habeck.
Alwin Ehrl stands at the side of the road with his wife and his landlord and observes the scenery. While the diesel generators and water pumps in his house are still running, he shows no understanding for this appearance. “How are they supposed to get an idea if they are a day late, when everything is over?” he wonders. In the crowd of people, the politicians would hardly have been able to form their own impression.
For example, the group could have asked Ehrl and other residents to explain how they tried to prevent the greatest damage while trapped by the water masses. “We were drowned within an hour,” says Ehrl. They used pumps to fight against the groundwater seeping into the basement, and outside they stacked sandbags to ward off the water – with success. They documented the events with photos and videos: “We were right in the middle of it.” And they would certainly have told the story if someone had spoken to them. “I would have liked to have been more close to the citizens,” says Ehrl.
The politicians take more time at the operations control center. Soldiers and firefighters describe their work and receive a lot of praise and appreciation. The Scholz-Söder group looks at the crisis team room and gets an overview of the flooded areas around the flooded substation from the fire tower. The statements for the television cameras follow: Scholz promises vague support, Söder underlines the ongoing efforts of the almost 4,000 emergency services still in the region. Then they leave again.
Reichertshofen’s mayor views the visit positively despite the criticism from residents. “I think it is important that those responsible form a personal impression,” says Franken. The scenes on Sunday were more striking. He saw for himself how people and emergency services stood helplessly in front of the masses of water. “This must reach the big politicians,” is his hope, which he sees confirmed after the exchange with the Chancellor: “My impression is that he was genuinely concerned.” On the day of the clean-up work, it is also easier to provide the resources for such a high-level visit. Other representatives of the crisis team see a motivational boost for themselves and the emergency services, even if they would rather take care of the work on site than chat with the top politicians.
Local resident Claudia Lamberti would like to see more action than words. Fortunately, her condominium, which is located a little higher up, is undamaged. But she knows: “The people need to be helped immediately.” She believes that the state government has a particular responsibility here to ensure that those affected do not get lost in the insurance bureaucracy. This can all be sorted out later. “Bavaria must take action now!” she says.
However, Alwin Ehrl no longer expects anything from politicians. “We saw that in the Ahr Valley: empty promises.” He sees the residents as being left to their own devices; the local community is what shapes the region. The visit therefore reminds him more of a spectacle. “It has nothing to do with what was actually going on,” he says.
