The natural disaster that hit Western Europe, its causes and consequences received a particular spotlight in the domestic public discourse. And that's sad. Because in connection with the personal tragedy of European people, Germans, Dutch, Belgians and Luxemburgers, it is just as tasteless to talk about God's punishment at this moment as it is unacceptable to state that such a thing cannot even be thought by a person of common sense.
This ostentatious litigation is unworthy and untimely. Because 170 people have died in Germany so far, but hundreds of people are still missing. So far, there are no fatalities in the Netherlands, but the number of dead has risen to 36 in Belgium.
Of course, these are just numbers and statistical data. But if we write that the wails that emanated from the ruins of a collapsed building in the town of Pepinster near Vervier in eastern Belgium on Saturday night were silenced by Sunday morning , that is different. Let's just imagine that our loved ones are trapped under several tons of rubble, but there is no way to save them due to the unstable structure of the building. They shout for help, but in vain, no one can help. And they die.
Mayor Adenau's speech was moving when, struggling with tears, he described the tragedy of the municipality in the Rhineland-Palatinate province during the chancellor's visit. In response, Angela Merkel apologized a little and then announced that the fight against climate change must be accelerated. He got it done with that. Although...
Flood situation on July 15 in Erfstadt, Germany / Photo: EyePress via AFP
Bild wrote that the European flood warning system, the EFA, warned the German and Belgian governments as early as July 10, i.e. four days before the floods, and in the following days they continued to inform the German state, providing more and more accurate forecasts. given about the time of the flood and its extent. However, the disaster management did not take the warning seriously, so the sirens and loudspeakers did not work either. Well, the media, which is always alert - especially when it comes to minority rights or the education of Hungary - failed to inform the people, so it is no wonder that the natural disaster hit them unexpectedly.
Meteorologists say a "catastrophic failure of the system" is responsible for the death and destruction caused by a month's worth of rain - in two days.
The Sunday Times also wrote that the first signs of the disaster were discovered nine days ago by a satellite orbiting 800 kilometers above the hills around the Rhine River. In the days after the alert, a group of scientists sent a series of predictions to the German authorities which, unfortunately, have since turned out to be extremely accurate: the Rhineland will be hit by floods, especially along the Erft and Ahf rivers and in cities such as Hagen and Altena .
The German government is now analyzing how many lives could have been saved if they had listened to the forecasts and evacuated the danger zones, they write.
And now let's turn this half-sentence around for a bit: "if they listen to the forecasts"!
Why did it become some sort of option in Germany? There is the forecast and there are the German authorities, who overrule the specialists and choose which advice to take seriously and which to ignore? Because if this is true, it means that the victims didn't even have a chance. The German authorities didn't even give them a chance to escape. And it's chilling. More precisely, this is the truly chilling, and therefore unworthy, "to gloat" by quoting biblical plagues. Because Pepinster is not Sodom, nor is Adenau, and their inhabitants are not all perverts and violent. Of course, everyone thinks what they want, this should not and cannot be disputed, but now compassion is perhaps more timely than public judgment.
Featured image: MTI/EPA/Sascha Steinbach
