VBefore the appearance of the former Rhineland-Palatinate Minister of the Environment and current Federal Minister for Family Affairs Anne Spiegel (Greens) this Friday before the committee of inquiry into the flood disaster, further incriminating details became known. This raises the question to what extent Spiegel was available to its employees on July 14th and 15th.
As the “Rhein-Zeitung” reports, citing call lists, Spiegel’s State Secretary Erwin Manz (Greens) tried in vain to reach the minister on the evening of July 14 at 10:24 p.m. and on July 15 at 7:52 a.m. On the evening of July 14, he sent her via messenger service a link to the flood reporting website of the State Office for the Environment (LfU), which was also under the control of Spiegel.
However, Manz himself seemed to have completely misjudged the situation. At 9.38 p.m. he wrote to the then LfU President: “Hopefully no people will be harmed.” At that time, the flood in the Ahr Valley had been raging for hours. As early as 3:24 p.m., the LfU had forecast a water level in Altenahr well above the “flood of the century” in 2016. From July 14 to 15, 134 people died on the Ahr and more than 700 were injured.
The ministry refrained from issuing a corrective press release
On July 14 at 4:43 p.m., Spiegel’s ministry sent out a press release entitled “Tense flood situation in Rhineland-Palatinate”. In it, Spiegel was quoted as saying: “We take the situation seriously, even if there is no threat of extreme flooding.” She appealed to all river residents to keep an eye on the situation. Campsite operators in particular should take precautions. As the “Rhein-Zeitung” writes, citing SMS logs, the press release was released by Spiegel. She wrote: “Could only look at it briefly, please gender camp operators, otherwise release.”
According to e-mail logs, State Secretary Manz realized shortly afterwards that the content of the e-mail was wrong. He wrote to employees of the press office that the press release was “outdated” and that there was an “extreme event on the Ahr”. A campsite there had been evacuated by air. When asked by a press spokeswoman whether something had to be done about it, he replied: “Not today.” A corrective press release – then with a warning – was not sent afterwards.
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