Civil protection in the city How Bonn plans to protect itself against future floods
Bonn · Bonn got off lightly during the heavy rain in mid-July - in contrast to the Ahr valley and the Voreifel region. Nevertheless, the city is now dealing with the subject of storm disaster in order to be prepared in the future.
The flood disaster and its consequences with many deaths and damages in the billions also occupied the city council in its special meeting on Monday evening. Although not as devastating as on the Ahr and Swist rivers, the heavy rain had also caused a lot of damage in Bonn. In addition, residents such as in Lessenich had to be brought out of their homes to safety with the help of emergency services. The Council coalition of the Greens, SPD, Left and Volt has now submitted a motion in which it demands, among other things, to examine whether the advisory council for voluntary civil protection and disaster control should hold a special meeting.
"We want to enter into a discussion process with this application," Nico Janicke (SPD) explained the request. Thus, the administration should also inform the political bodies about the long-term and complex evaluations and conclusions of the events from the flood event of July 14. It should also prepare and implement climate adaptation measures quickly. Important building blocks would be the preparation of the open space concept and the concept of the water-sensitive city - keyword sponge city. Unsealing measures, the creation of retention areas and rainwater retention basins are important building blocks in this context.
Presenting the consequences of high precipitation
In addition, the administration is to present the consequences that precipitation rates, such as those measured in the Ahrweiler and Euskirchen districts, could have on Bonn. It should be explained which deadlines can be used to warn of such an event and to what extent the population can be informed in a targeted manner. In addition, the applicants want to know how the protection of the people of Bonn and the infrastructure, especially in the vicinity of smaller watercourses around the Bonn highlands, such as on the Venusberg or in the Ennert, can be improved immediately and also in the long term during heavy rain events.
A request, which met throughout with positive reactions of the parliamentary groups and was accepted unanimously with abstention of the citizen federation Bonn.
Mayor thanks all flood helpers
City building officer Helmut Wiesner and city director Wolfgang Fuchs promised all relevant information on the subject. "We will discuss it further in the technical committees," said Fuchs.
Lord Mayor Katja Dörner (Greens) had previously publicly thanked all the helpers from Bonn for their efforts on behalf of the flood victims. She also expressly praised her own administration, which had helped quickly and unbureaucratically in many places immediately after the flood disaster - among other things, by quickly setting up a call center for housing seekers and providers. "The people of Bonn have shown an incredible amount of solidarity. We had around 20,000 housing offers in a short time."
Original text: Lisa Inhoffen
Translation: Mareike Graepel
