Dinkelscherben in the Augsburg district is experiencing flooding of unknown proportions. Mayor Edgar Kalb criticizes the state government and says: The damage could have been avoided.
On a tour of his town, Edgar Kalb quickly senses what is in store for him and the residents. “That’s 100,000 euros worth of damage per house,” the mayor of Dinkelscherben roughly calculates on Sunday afternoon. The heaters, the inverters of the photovoltaic systems in the basement, the screed. Not to mention the containers full of rubbish and the lack of tradesmen needed to repair the damage.
The market in the Augsburg district on the Zusam has been battling with the water masses since Saturday. “We really have a catastrophe here,” says Daniel Nägele from the Dinkelscherben volunteer fire department. The river has significantly exceeded the previous high of 2005, at some measuring points by up to 40 centimeters.
Since Friday afternoon, helpers and emergency services have filled thousands of sandbags and set up defense lines. But even this has not prevented the river from once again making its way into the town. “The water has come from all directions. Even from places where it has never come from before,” he says.
For the emergency services, events unfolded quickly. Even assisted living facilities were neither accessible nor accessible by car, so rescue operations took place by water. Because the trains were no longer running, 50 stranded passengers had to be cared for at the station and onward transport had to be organized.
Flooded transformer stations led to power outages, and telephone and internet networks collapsed. Even on Sunday afternoon, the fire station was only supplied with emergency power generators. “This makes operations difficult,” notes Nägele. He suspects that the emergency services will have to contend with the flooding for a few more days.
But could this drama have been avoided? Mayor Kalb is angry with the water management office in Donauwörth. “For eleven years they have had a building permit for a flood dam two kilometers from the town! For eleven years they have not moved a shovel,” he says.
In March of the previous year, he was still annoyed about the lack of protective measures: the construction was now expected to cost 6.9 million euros instead of 3.5 million euros, as the Augsburger Allgemeine reported. At the time, it was said that the dam would be completed by 2025.
For reasons of jurisdiction, the market was unable to take action itself, explains Kalb, criticizing the state government for its inaction. Dinkelscherben has done its homework and improved flood protection in other places – with success, as was shown at the weekend.
But now the town has suffered damage, for which the citizens will probably once again blame the local politicians, Kalb fears. “Why do we have to bear the costs if the people in charge don’t implement it?” he asks angrily.
He hopes that at least the state and federal governments will provide the necessary funds for the repairs. “Not everyone has natural hazard insurance,” says the mayor. Due to the recent floods, insurance in Dinkelscherben was hardly affordable for some.