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Given how underwater the Dutch live I'm stunned that they too didn't get slapped by this rain from hell.
Side note, alot of crazy weather related event happening lately... I wonder why
Side note, alot of crazy weather related event happening lately... I wonder why
That's because we are way more prepared, and over the last 25 years (since the last big floods in that area), big efforts have been made to give the rivers more space just for times like these.
It's luck. Most of the severe rainfall happened in Belgium and Germany. Parts of Limburg were hit, but still only half as bad as the worst hit parts of Germany. Also the the low lying and flat Dutch landscape is a blessing in disguise. The catastrophic mudslides and rapids seen in Germany can't really happen over here.
This, the past week was pretty much only a drizzle that lasted all the time here. The local ditches and creeks aren't even that full. It even looks like i won't get anymore guests in my attic if the levees won't erode as fast.
Local DIY store is using the situation well: "20% discount on repair supplies if you're flooded!" with sump-pumps and blow-heaters in front of the store. Gotta love that VOC mindset.
Yeah I reckon it's a combination of water management, where Dutch rivers have large "uiterwaarden" created around the rivers (planned inundation zones) that can be relatively safely flooded, but also simply being able to do that because of the flat land. If you see the worst hit places in the Eiffel and East Belgium, it's mostly valleys that have been flooded, causing water to rise high into buildings and strong currents. The Netherlands doesn't really have hills so also no valleys to be flooded (except for.. parts of Limburg).
Jup. But this kind of water management wasn't ever really necessary in Germany. This shitshow now is caused simply by MUCH more rain.
Most of the regions affected are used to floods, but this time around the floods were just several meters higher than ever before. In one village the local river was 8 meters higher than usual.
The amount of precipitation just rose sharply over the past few decades and these are the consequences.
I'm no expert in these things, but who decides how the land is used for building etc? The state or the German government? Climate change is only one part of this disaster if I understood it right.
What an idiot, disgraceful, don't know what to say.
Edited it, lost my temper for a second.
anyone who votes CDU/CSU again in September after all the shit of the past decade is a lost cause
Laschet is such a dishonest, slimy sleazebag.
Unfortunately, with the intense character assassination campaign on Bearbock that is going on right now, he is almost guaranteed to become chancellor. :(
We have dire years ahead of us, GermanEra. I strongly consider joining the green party instead of just voting for them as usual.
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Problem is voting Green means Laschet as a chancellor. Can't think of a way that the green party will beat CDU/CSU and it'll be a CDU/Grüne coalition. Will vote red and hope for a GRR coalition...
Yeah just saw it in the news fucking disgusting and how stupid can one man be unbelievable.
A lot of high risk "once in 100 years" flooding risk area maps will probably have to be redrawn.
Hope the government is on it via drone topology measurements.
Also seems like the HQ100 designation of "once in 100 years" is as accurate as our inflation rate basket..seems more like "once in 100 days" nowadays.
Hope the government is on it via drone topology measurements.
Also seems like the HQ100 designation of "once in 100 years" is as accurate as our inflation rate basket..seems more like "once in 100 days" nowadays.
I'm always amazed at videos these people are taking when they are very clearly not safe. Get to safety!
Why would voting green lead to to a CDU/green coalition but voting SPD to green/red/red? Isn't green/red/red more likely with a stronger Green Party?
I hate him with all my political heart. It's so fucked up that he has the best PR department and smear campaigns which means he pretty much only doesn't need to fuck up to see the support for the green and red parties shrink, the closer we get to the elections.
Hopefully stuff like this gets some points of support away from him. Hopefully something will go viral again shortly before the election like "Die Zerstörung der CDU".
Hearing that the same weather situation arose again yesterday again in Bavaria is very concerning - hope people were evacuated in time.
Well, first - sadly I think CDU/Grüne will be the most likely coalition (the greens might believe they could still change something in a CDU/Grüne coalition but I highly doubt that with all the rotten and bad politicians on the conservative side). But I can't see an outcome that would put the greens ahead of the CDU. The stronger the greens are, let's say 25% and the CDU at 28% for an optimistic outcome, the more realistic this coalition will be.
Now let's think about an outcome with 22% for the greens and 27% for the CDU. A coalition between greens and the CDU could still be possible but if the SPD could get to 18-19% (unlikely but with the votes of some greens possible) and the Linke gets 8% we now have a scenario that both of those coalitions could be possible. Just a few more votes for the left (and few less votes for CDU / Grüne) makes CDU/Grüne more unlikely and a GRR more likely.
I don't think we will see a GRR coalition but a stronger left would make it at least possible...
But yeah normally it wouldn't change much if the greens are stronger or a bit weaker.
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For me it's more like this.
i really don't want SG and would greatly prefer GRR (if is was still in the party I would easily vote against a coalition with the CDU).
In GRR I am less concerned about the relative strength but in SG I want the greens to be as strong as possible so if we cannot beat S I want to get as close to S as possible. Ergo I'll be voting for the greens as I have forever.
i learned a few days ago, that in most of the affected areas insurance companies dont even offer flood insurance (or elemental protection, as it is called here).
> Federal Finance Minister Scholz wants to help the victims of the flood disaster with more than 300 million euros. The first payments from the federal government to
> those affected are to be made before the end of July. Economics Minister Altmaier pleaded for a "Corona flood lump sum".
He of course also wants to be Kanzler...
AFAIK they won't sell you proper insurance in many places as it's too risky and not worth it for the insurance companies.
Btw, the guy who is laughing right next to Armin Laschet is Gregor Golland. He is chairman of the NRW-CDU (Landesfraktionschef).
Additionally to his role as CDU-Politician he is also employed by fossil fuel giant RWE since 2004.
They pay him 120.000€ a year, which is one of the highest extra incomes of all NRW politicians.
He is also a member of the economic and environmental committee. (fml)
The CDU doesn't fear any conflicts of interest here.
But here is an article from 2017 about this guy's conflicts of interest, working for fossil fuel corporations while also being a politician who is supposed to protect his constituents from the consequences of climate which the company he works for is causing.
https://www.abgeordnetenwatch.de/bl...und-der-interessenkonflikt-eines-abgeordneten
(german only, unfortunately)
Anyway, this is the guy laughing along with Kohle-Armin as people lose their livelihoods to climate change caused by Armin's and Gregor's favorite business: Fossil Fuels.
This is the stuff you'll see in history books in 100 years when the research question is "How did we get here?", "Who is to blame?", "How did we let it get so bad?", "Where did the discrepancy between what we knew and what we did come from?"
At fault are people like Armin and Gregor who are convinced that their job as politicians is to fulfill corporate wishlists.
For the past 40 years, that is all the CDU did and it kinda worked. Now that it doesn't work anymore because corporate profit interests and societal interests have diverged, their entire political craft collapsed and they've become a grave danger for German society and our future prosperity.
Germany: Flood rescue efforts ramp up as destruction spreads – DW – 07/18/2021
Rescue operations have continued across the region in western Germany hit by devastating flooding. The crisis has escalated further, as parts of eastern Germany and Austria are now being ravaged by the floodwaters.
www.dw.com
It took us two days to find our 15 year old nephew who was stranded by a friend in Hönningen. My wife who works as a nurse in the only functional hospital had a night shift when shit hit the fan. Today they sent her home because she was completely exhausted.
Her uncle's house still stands and her family's save, but that's as good as news get (well, this and they have proper insurance). And I consider them as one of the very luck ones because of that. Although no one knows when electricity and water supply will be repaired. The later will probably take months.
It took us two days to get all the mud and all the destroyed stuff out of the basement and ground floor of their home.
and then you finally get home and the first thing you see is this jackass Laschet who laughs his fucking ass off…
Her uncle's house still stands and her family's save, but that's as good as news get (well, this and they have proper insurance). And I consider them as one of the very luck ones because of that. Although no one knows when electricity and water supply will be repaired. The later will probably take months.
It took us two days to get all the mud and all the destroyed stuff out of the basement and ground floor of their home.
and then you finally get home and the first thing you see is this jackass Laschet who laughs his fucking ass off…
This is some terrifying nightmare fuel. Glad everyone is ok!
Reminds me of how they say the LA river used to overflow. Before it was encased in concrete, it would occasionally just breakthrough one of it's banks and forge an entirely new path to the ocean. Unfortunately doesn't seem to be a magic bullet solution for this one. And this flooding will only get more common.
How do you even start to clean this upThe pictures from the aftermath aren't any better
Holy shit... :(The pictures from the aftermath aren't any better
