One year after Germany's flood disaster

"No, no. I would never have expected such a catastrophe," says Jessica Bälz. "Perhaps the streets being waterlogged and the cellars full of water. But this? I don't think anyone would have thought it would get this bad."

Jessica Bälz ran two bookshops before the floods hit the Ahr Valley in southwestern Germany. On the night between July 14 and 15, when the water in the Ahr river began rising, she and her husband began piling sandbags around their stores. But at some point, the water poured in from all sides and it was evident that they couldn't save anything anymore: "Both shops stood up to the ceiling in water," she told DW. A total loss.

A 'before/after' world 

Within a day, the floods turned Bälz's life upside down. And not just hers. Heavy rains transformed small rivulets and streams in the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia into torrents. More than 180 people lost their lives and around 17,000 people lost all their possessions. At least 60,000 houses and 28,000 companies were destroyed altogether, causing damages of at least €33 billion ($33 billion).

"Our world is now divided into a 'before' and 'after,'" Jessica Bälz wrote of the tragedy on her website. However, she says, she and her family were lucky. Their home is located on a hill and was saved from flooding. She converted the ground floor of the house into a temporary bookstore. It was clear to her that "life had to go on."

Martina Thien has a similar outlook. The head of the Vellbrück publishing company near Bonn remembers the night of the disaster quite well. At 3:45 am, she woke up hearing the rush of water. It sounded like the Niagara falls, she recalls.

In order to avoid the dam breaking in the area of the Steinbachtalsperre, officials had decided to release water — without issuing a warning. The flood broke into the village and submerged the rooms of the publishing house: "30,000 books, computers, furniture: Everything was destroyed," Thien remembers.

The cleaning up began once the initial feeling of shock had passed — like everywhere else in the flooded areas. Neighbors, friends, but also many strangers came to the Ahr valley and helped out, Thien says. "The willingness to help last year was unbelievable."

Two weeks after the catastrophe, she was at least able to work from home again.

After having dealt with 15 different construction teams in the rebuilding process, she now hopes to return to the old publishing storehouses by the end of July.

Waiting for support

Thien is better off than many others who were struck by the tragedy, because the she had good insurance. The state and the government had promised financial support, and people all over Germany contributed money to help them, but there are problems with the payouts.

"There was immediate help after the floods — one, two weeks after the floods," Thien says. "But the problem often lies with insurance companies, as they evaluate damages, and with the forms for support during reconstruction. I always hear: 'It is such a complicated process that I'm thinking about whether to ask for help at all.'"

Another problem has been the lack of skilled handiworkers, which has delayed reconstruction. One year after the disaster, many flooded houses are still in a damaged state and many streets, bridges and train tracks still can't be used.

Unprocessed trauma

The psychological burden comes in addition to the physical loss. Every time there are heavy rains, the number of callers to emergency hotlines increase.

Jessica Bälz has not yet overcome the trauma of the night of the floods either. "Yes, somehow it is still so present. You think: Actually, I don't have so much to do with it anymore. But it's not something that goes away overnight," she says. 

"Today, it's raining so hard and it is so dark, and it's the same time of the year. It's a strange feeling. And the firetruck also just drove past." 

As media reports look back on the floods one year after the catastrophe, old wounds are reopened.

After the flood, Bälz could not come to terms with a city like Bonn, which was untouched by the tragedy, she says. "It was like a parallel world. Everything went on normally. And you thought: My God, how could you just go on like nothing happened? What am I doing here?" It sounds strange, she says, but she felt better cared for in the area of tragedy.  "You knew that everyone knew what had happened."

Every small bit of progress motivates people to persevere, the bookstore owner says — things like having a hot shower after weeks without electricity or heating. "One is grateful for something which you thought was normal before," says Bälz. Even now, her city, Ahrweiler, is a big construction site. But here and there, people have begun planting flower beds.

Things are moving, but no one knows how much time it will take until everything goes back to normal: "Are we talking of months, a year, five or 10 years?" asks Bälz.

Many people from the flooded regions live off tourism, and can't wait that long; 90% of the businesses in the region want to reopen, according to Ahrtal Tourism spokesperson Dorothee Dickmanns. "I think that is a very positive sign," she says.

Where are the tourists?

But will tourists come? Many people are asking whether they can travel to the Ahr valley after the floods — not only because of the damaged infrastructure, but also because of the insecurity. Tourists aren't sure if it's appropriate to have a good time in an area where people have lost their livelihoods.

"I can understand people's misgivings," Dickmanns tells DW. "It is a balancing act. But in the name of the tourist industry, we can say that we are happy with anyone who comes here. The businesses that have reopened need customers to survive." 

After the floods, the number of overnight stays in the wine-growing area dropped massively.

In 2019, before the pandemic, the area recorded 170,000 overnight stays.

Two years later, it was just 34,500 — and that number includes the volunteers who were helping out with clearing up.

In Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, a popular destination for holidaymakers and spa visitors, the drop in the number of guests was particularly obvious.

In September 2021, the area had only 22 guests staying overnight every day. Two years earlier that same month, the daily number of overnight stays was at 25,362.

Things look different after the floods

In the meantime, numbers have slowly been going up, Dickmanns says. Tourists can go hiking, visit museums and restaurants, just like before the floods. Damaged houses, bridges and construction gaps are still visible, but Ahrtal Tourism is dealing with the subject by offering tours on the flood.

"Our tour guides live here and in many cases, they've been personally affected by the floods. Interested visitors can learn about the effects of the catastrophe without worrying about victims' privacy," explains Dickmanns, who hopes that something positive emerges from the reconstruction attempts.

"Politicians have at least promised to make a model region of the valley," she says. That also means that the architecture will have to be adjusted to climate change.

The future is uncertain. But publishing head Mariette Thien is not to be discouraged: "After the flood, you see things differently. We are happy to have come out of the tragedy alive. We are happy to be able to work and function and take up every challenge. We can do it."

This article was originally written in German.