German chancellor excursions flooded areas within the northwest, praises authorities and volunteers
BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took a helicopter flight Sunday to test the flooded areas within the northwest of the nation, the place rivers have swelled and overflowed properties, roads and fields after weeks of heavy rain.
In latest days, a whole bunch of individuals have been evacuated from affected areas in northern and jap Germany as a precaution.
Scholz landed within the morning within the city of Verden in Lower Saxony the place dikes alongside rivers had been soaked with water and near bursting in some elements of the state.
Talking to reporters close to the Aller river which has flooded elements of Verden, Scholz thanked “the police, the fire department, the federal agency for technical relief and the German Armed Forces” for his or her joint efforts.
“It is important that we stick together,” he mentioned.
The chancellor additionally expressed gratitude to the “countless citizens of our country who are now sacrificing their time and putting themselves in danger to ensure safety for us all.”
Thousands of volunteers have helped fill and distribute hundreds of thousands of sandbags used to guard properties from the floods, mentioned the governor of Lower Saxony, Stephan Weil, who accompanied Scholz on his tour of the hard-hit area.
In Haren within the area of Emsland near the Dutch border, emergency companies used sandbags to restore a part of a dike on Sunday night time. In Wathlingen close to the town of Celle, a whole bunch of individuals helped stabilize elements of a dike that was washed out, German information company dpa reported.
In the jap state of Thuringia, the county of Mansfeld-Suedharz declared a state of emergency on Sunday as a number of villages on the Helme river had been threatened by the rising waters, dpa reported, the place round 130 emergency staffers additionally secured a closely soaked dike with 1000’s of sandbags to maintain it from bursting.
Lauding the mixed efforts, Scholz mentioned, “I believe that this shows that there is solidarity in our country and a willingness to stick together.”
The chancellor additionally promised the federal authorities would assist assist affected states and native authorities in dealing with the disaster “to the best of its ability.”
In the summer season of 2021, Germany and Belgium had been hit by lethal floods that killed greater than 230 individuals.
