As hopes of finding survivors fade, Germans question how the floods were handled Reuters

BERLIN (Reuters)-A rescue official said on Wednesday that rescuers are unlikely to find more survivors in the ruins of flood-destroyed villages in western Germany. A new poll showed that many Germans believe that policymakers are not enough. To protect them.

The floods last week killed at least 170 people. This was the worst natural disaster in Germany in more than half a century. Thousands of people were missing.

Sabine Lackner, deputy director of the Federal Technical Relief Service (THW), told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland: “We are still looking for missing people while we are clearing roads and pumping water from the basement.”

She said that any victims found now may have died.

For immediate relief, the federal government will initially provide emergency assistance of up to 200 million euros ($235.5 million), and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday that more funds can be provided if needed.

In addition, the affected states will provide at least 250 million euros to repair buildings and damaged local infrastructure, and help people in crisis situations.

Schultz also said that the government will bear the cost of rebuilding destroyed infrastructure such as roads and bridges. The full extent of the damage is not yet known, but Scholz said that the reconstruction cost after the previous flood was about 6 billion euros.

Economy Minister Peter Altmeier told Deutschlandfunk that the assistance will include funds to help businesses such as restaurants or hair salons make up for lost income.

Less than three months before the national elections in September, floods dominated the political agenda and raised disturbing questions as to why Europe’s wealthiest economies were caught off guard.

A survey conducted by the INSA Institute for the German mass media newspaper Bild found that two-thirds of Germans believe that federal and regional policymakers should take more measures to protect communities from flooding.

On Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the badly-hit town of Bad Munsterefer. She said that despite the severe weather warning issued by meteorologists, after being widely accused of not being prepared, the authorities will Investigate what measures did not work.

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