Germany floods: Blame game begins as waters recede

Perched on a bench by the flooded riverbank at the tip of the narrow peninsula where Passau's old town is situated, local resident Robert is watching volunteer workers pump water out of nearby basements. 

The square in front of his apartment is usually buzzing with tourists who offload from cruise ships to explore the city close on the Austrian border. The kindergarten teacher moved into a first-floor apartment here two years ago and has no plans to leave.

"People go on holiday to be by the water, well, we've got it right at our front door," he smiles, pointing to the now-submerged promenade where sightseers would normally be enjoying ice cream and taking a few snaps.

Passau resident Robert is has been watching volunteer workers in actionImage: Helen Whittle/DW

Known as the Three Rivers City ("Dreiflüssestadt"), Passau lies at the confluence of the Danube, Inn, and Ilz rivers and has a population of around 54,000. A state of emergency was declared here on Tuesday as streets and squares in the picturesque old town, known for its Baroque architecture, were swallowed by flood waters up to a high of 9.7 meters — the normal level is 6 meters.

The river cruise industry along the Danube, one of Europe's most famous waterways, brings hundreds of thousands of tourists to the region each year.

Local residents relaxed but say it's not over yet

Stavros runs a Greek restaurant where the cruise ships packed with tourists dock on the peninsula. "I don't have such a big problem with it because we're really well insured," he told DW. "If the insurers keep their promise then we’re covered for at least the days we’ve had to close." 

"The water rises every year, but not like this," he said. "But I'm a good swimmer though, so a bit of water doesn't bother me!" 

Stavros says he has heard talk of €15,000 ($16,300) compensation from the local authorities but would "sort it all out later." He estimates the damage to his restaurant to be between €80,000 and €90,000. 

"The water has begun to stagnate since yesterday, it's not going down, now it's forecast to rain again and we don't know if it will rise again," he explained, adding that for now, the sandbags in front of the restaurant would be staying in place. 

Restaurant owner Stavros is happy to have insurance for his propertyImage: Helen Whittle/DW

Susanne has run a hair salon since 1995 on the square just meters away from where the water has overflowed from the Danube. She says they got off relatively lightly this time compared to the floods which "completely destroyed" her business in 2013. 

"Tuesday was hard because all the memories came back from 2013 and that was a really tough time," she explains, pointing to the top of a mirror in the salon where the water levels once peaked. "Everything's been sorted pretty much quicker this time, the preparations really worked." 

So far, no damages or breaches had been found in the dykes around in Passau, according to a spokesperson for the Lower Bavaria police headquarters.

State premier praises rescue workers, promises compensation

Bavaria's Premier Markus Söder, of the center-right Christian Social Union (CSU) was quick to travel to the flood-hit areas and has paid several visits over the past few days.

In Passau, close to the water's edge and surrounded by hoards of journalists, Söder heaped praise on the 60,000 rescue workers deployed throughout Bavaria who he said had done a "superhuman" job.

In recent years, flood protection projects have been scaled back in Bavaria. A decision in 2018 to designate floodplains was delayed by Söder's coalition partner, the Free Voters. Their chairman, Hubert Aiwanger, who is Söder's deputy, told the Augsburger Allgemeine at the time that the polders were superfluous and too expensive, "because such a polder is only flooded once every hundred years”.

Only one of the nine polders planned in 2018 has actually been built. Katharina Schulze, leader of the Green Party told the Bavarian state parliament, that Aiwanger had "sabotaged” flood protection. The other opposition parties have also criticized the delays and lack of investment.

But Söder points out that his government invested a total of €4 billion in flood protection since 2001 and promised a further "€100 million plus x" in emergency aid for the region. This is a turnabout, as Bavaria has not paid out any aid to victims of natural disasters for the past few years, with Söder arguing that the state could not be a substitute for insurance. Now he is calling for financial assistance from the federal government: "We hope that the federal government will support us in a similar way to other regions in Germany," he said.

Söder's remark that "nobody could have expected" floods and damage on this scale was swiftly ridiculed on the social media platform X. Meteorologists have been warning for years that such extreme weather events will increase.

After his highly publicized visit, Ronja Hofmann from Fridays for Future Bavaria accused Söder of "flood tourism" in order to "win votes in the face of the climate catastrophe." After months of conducting "an entire EU election campaign with a pro-emissions message, the Premier is now trying to present himself as statesmanlike and responsible shortly before the election," she told the Passauer Neue Presse local newspaper. 

Edited by Rina Goldenberg

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