The federal highway B265 near Erftstadt was also sufficiently known as a danger spot. "The A61 freeway is flooded at the Gymnich junction. The B265 is also flooded with large water depths: at the junction with Frauenthaler Straße, water depths of well over 4 meters are reached, in some cases with flow velocities >2m/s," the "Flood Risk and Measures Planning Erftstadt" states.

Nevertheless, motorists in a traffic jam here could only save themselves at the last minute towards a nearby bridge. Police officers had asked them to leave their vehicles "immediately" to avoid drowning. How could it be that the warnings arrived on the scene so late? What can be done better in disaster control - especially as heavy rainfall is increasingly likely due to climate change?

Communication proved to be a weak point. "Alerting systems need to be optimized. One problem of the disaster was the rapid failure of the mobile phone network," Gerd Landsberg, chief executive of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities, told our editorial team. Neither could those affected communicate with relief workers, nor could emergency services warn people. Landsberg calls for reactivating the former siren systems. "In the Cold War era, there was a siren system throughout the country, and people knew which signals had which meaning. This is where we need to start and digitize the systems so that communication is possible even if there is a power outage." Reinhard Sager, president of the German County Association, demands, "For the future, the possibilities for warning via cell phones should be improved. We envision that in the event of imminent significant danger, every cell phone will receive a text message with a warning. Regardless of whether one has a smartphone or an app installed." Because there is indeed the warning app Nina of the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance. But just 8.8 million users have installed it.

"Personal precautions must also be strengthened," says Landsberg. "This includes installing backwater valves, securing air ducts against water, knowing yourself where to turn off electricity and gas, and knowing not to go into your basement when there's a risk of flooding." Residents near rivers and streams should know where to gather in case of an evacuation. "Simple items, such as the battery-powered radio, a flashlight and certain supplies of food and water, also belong in every household," Landsberg said.

The state can also take precautions: "Civilian population protection must be improved," says the head of the Association of Towns and Municipalities. This includes strengthening the Federal Office for Disaster Relief in terms of both personnel and finances, and consistently expanding emergency supplies. Landsberg cites emergency generators, medical products and long-life food as examples. "We are just as ill-prepared when it comes to disaster control as we are when it comes to pandemic protection," said SPD health politician Karl Lauterbach. He, too, demanded, "We must prepare now for the fact that there will be more natural disasters in the future and also regular pandemics. Tax funds must be available both to build the appropriate infrastructure and to compensate people who suffer losses." Climate change makes life more fragile and expensive, he said.

Nevertheless, neither government nor individuals can eliminate all risks. "Nor should we use this extraordinary event as an opportunity to fundamentally question the disaster management system or call for a shift of operational authority from counties and cities to the federal government," cautioned District Administrator Sager. "No exercise or structure could have prevented the very rapidly escalating danger situation, or at least the most serious damage to people and property. Against such lightning-fast forces of nature, man is simply powerless after a certain point. We should accept that."

NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) also backed the disaster control: Preparations for the crisis, such as the precautionary release of water from dams, had already been made at the time of the weather forecasts. "Everyone was in the picture," he said. In some regions, however, those responsible had prepared more intensively for the approaching heavy rain than in others. It was not easy to predict precisely where the precipitation would come down, he said. In addition, Reul also complained that cell phones were no longer working in the disaster area.

Verena Schäffer, co-faction leader of the Green Party in North Rhine-Westphalia, had previously expressed incomprehension that the state government had not activated its crisis team, which was actually intended for such catastrophes.

(Original text: Kirsten Bialdiga, Antje Höning and Carola Siedentop / Translation: Mareike Graepel)