Why locals rebuilding Germany's flood-struck towns are longing for spring

Windows of a house on the Urft river are still boarded up about half a year after the region was hit by flooding last July. Photos: Oliver Berg/dpa

The craftsmen in the rural areas of Germany that suffered record flooding last summer are taking a lead role in reconstruction efforts.

Armed with hammers, drills and saws, locals in the village of Gemund are busy putting their homes and businesses back together, six months after disastrous flooding in July caused untold damage.

Back then, rivers burst their banks, killing more than 180 people in one of the worst natural disasters in memory.

Flood waters rose to levels never seen before, wrecking houses, washing cars onto meadows and triggering landslides.

Even after months of clearing up, the flood is still very present in everyone's lives.

"It's a lost year," one resident says, adding that life is still focused entirely on repairs. He is hoping to return to his home in March.

Vending carts stand in front of empty shops in the pedestrian zone in Schleiden-Gemünd.

But normality is still a distant hope for Gemund, a scenic village nestled in the confluence of two rivers, the Olef and the Urft.

The historic downtown area is still practically empty. Only a local butcher has returned to his shop in an otherwise depressingly empty pedestrian area. A baker, meanwhile, sells bread from his cart.

Shopkeepers have left signs in windows now dusty, reading "Thank you! Stay well". In the background you can hear the muffled hum of dehumidifiers working to counteract the damp.

The bookshop owner is made of tougher stuff. The sign in his window reads: "Now more than ever. Fate can kiss our as***! Thanks to all who want the future!"

Meanwhile the main part of the postbox nearby has disappeared, with only the outer yellow shell remaining.

Repair work continues in the two churches. The local pub is not expecting to welcome anyone back before Easter.

Debris lies on the banks of the Urft river in the town of Schleiden-Gemünd about half a year after parts of Germany were hit by flooding last July.

Businesses in Gemund are not likely to reopen until May or June, in the view of Ingo Pfennings, the mayor of Schleiden, a town of 13,000.

The markets and supermarkets are gradually back in business after all but one were destroyed.

"People were so grateful that they could buy a piece of cake," Julia Kloska-Knapp says, recalling last year's Christmas market, replete with mulled wine and food tents.

Back when the flood first hit, she found herself driving up to 20km to shop, get petrol or deposit money in the bank.

She feels happy, seeing bakers back in the village, though they are so popular that sometimes, there's nothing left by afternoon.

The water was 75cm deep at her car parts shop some 170m from the Urft. She started cleaning up immediately, after an insurance broker from Dresden gave her some tips, based on his experience when the Elbe river flooded years ago.

"You have to make sure you get rid of the mud right away," Kloska-Knapp says. "We spent two weeks just cleaning."

The flooding caused extensive damage to the goods and machinery in the workshop, however. She is still waiting for costly repairs to the floor and outer walls.

"Half a year is a long time, and on the other hand it's nothing," says Kloska-Knapp.

The floods have taken their toll in other ways, too. People tell the mayor they just can't shake the sound that the water made. Or that when it rains, their children cry. Others say their neighbours' nightmares keep them awake at night, hearing them shouting for help while they are sleeping.

Those affected have been offered therapy for the coming two years and more and more people are asking for help, says pastor Claudia Muller-Buck from Swisttal.

People are starting to tell their stories, and that gives them some relief, she says.

Looking back, says Muller-Buck, who is a member of a mobile flood relief team, it becomes clear how much has been lost.

But when she looks ahead to the future, Muller-Buck is confident that the situation will change more visibly once federal support comes through so people can fix their homes.

"I think things will get better when spring starts," she says.

Meanwhile the man hammering away and looking ahead to returning to his home in March says he can't contemplate going through anything like that ever again.

"If the floods run in here again, that's it," he says. – dpa