One year on: How life has changed for German flood survivors
Nearly a year ago, pounding rain turned the River Ahr, a tributary of the Rhine in western Germany, into a torrent of water that swept everything before it. For those who survived the deadly flood, life changed dramatically. Here are three of their stories.
Solidarity
"My dog, my mobile phone and some T-shirts." That was all Anke Barteit, 57, managed to take with her as the waters rose.
For the past year, Barteit has been living in a small wooden hut in a temporary village erected for flood victims until they can return to their
homes.
Her 30-square-metre "tiny house" is located in a car park in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, one of the towns worst affected by the floods.
Sitting on the terrace outside her makeshift home, Barteit counts her blessings as she looks out across the valley with its forests and lush
vineyards.
The floods unleashed an outpouring of solidarity in Germany, she says. Strangers she met on Facebook provided the cutlery, sheets, towels and other essential items for her new home.
READ ALSO: Volunteer army rebuilds Germany's flood-stricken towns
Anke Barteit holds a sign that reads 'solidarity is the rope that holds when everything else fails' in her tiny house in Bad Neuenahr in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany, almost one year after the region was devastated by floods. Photo: Ina FASSBENDER / AFP
Barteit lives alone with her dog Buddy, who she says "saved her life" on the night of July 14th.
The Bichon Maltese woke her up by barking as the water began to pour into her home near the river Ahr.
Barteit, who is recovering from lung cancer diagnosed in 2018, is hoping to return to her home in September, a moment she says will feel like a "dream come true".
Homeless and jobless
From her temporary office in a small portable cabin, Carina Dewald does the admin for the only petrol station in the village of Dernau.
A year ago, Dewald, her husband, their seven-year-old son and her parents-in-law spent the night on the roof of their house before being
airlifted to safety.
When AFP met her a few days after the disaster, Dewald, now 40, described herself as "technically homeless and unemployed".
The petrol station where she worked with her husband was razed to the ground, and her house was left uninhabitable as waters from the river Ahr rose to the window ledges on the first floor.
Dewald and her husband "quickly took the decision... to get the station up and running again", helped by a €70,000 insurance payout, she says.
An architect's drawing of the building that will eventually be their new office hangs on the wall.
The Dewald family home is still being renovated after a long battle with their insurance company.
Returning to live in the middle of a flood zone doesn't faze them, though Dewald is hoping the flood warning system will work better if it happens again. "We don't overthink things," she laughs.
On July 14th, 2021, the Dewalds' petrol station remained open until 9pm - less than three hours before torrents of water began sweeping
through the town.
READ ALSO: Why have so many died in the German floods?
Mud-smeared wine bottles
In the cellars of Peter Kriechel's vineyard in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, the barrels are lined up, the steel vats are gleaming and everything is ready for the 2022 harvest.
A tasting room next door is buzzing with visitors.
It's a far cry from this time last year, when the cellar was completely filled with water.
In the Ahr valley, known for the pinot noir that grows on its steep slopes, the economy relies significantly on wine production and the tourism it
generates.
Winemaker Peter Kriechel stands in his wineyard in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany. Photo: Ina FASSBENDER / AFP
After the floods, the region's winegrowers raised 4.5 million euros by selling 180,000 mud-smeared bottles of wine rescued from their cellars.
"It helped us all enormously," says Kriechel, who wants to take the idea further by venturing "into the next dimension, the metaverse".
A selection of remaining bottles numbered from 1 to 99 are still to be auctioned off - including number 14, the day of the floods.
That special bottle will be sold in the form of an NFT, a digital token that can be used to represent the ownership of unique items.
By Jean-Philippe LACOUR
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Solidarity
"My dog, my mobile phone and some T-shirts." That was all Anke Barteit, 57, managed to take with her as the waters rose.
For the past year, Barteit has been living in a small wooden hut in a temporary village erected for flood victims until they can return to their
homes.
Her 30-square-metre "tiny house" is located in a car park in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, one of the towns worst affected by the floods.
Sitting on the terrace outside her makeshift home, Barteit counts her blessings as she looks out across the valley with its forests and lush
vineyards.
The floods unleashed an outpouring of solidarity in Germany, she says. Strangers she met on Facebook provided the cutlery, sheets, towels and other essential items for her new home.
READ ALSO: Volunteer army rebuilds Germany's flood-stricken towns
Barteit lives alone with her dog Buddy, who she says "saved her life" on the night of July 14th.
The Bichon Maltese woke her up by barking as the water began to pour into her home near the river Ahr.
Barteit, who is recovering from lung cancer diagnosed in 2018, is hoping to return to her home in September, a moment she says will feel like a "dream come true".
Homeless and jobless
From her temporary office in a small portable cabin, Carina Dewald does the admin for the only petrol station in the village of Dernau.
A year ago, Dewald, her husband, their seven-year-old son and her parents-in-law spent the night on the roof of their house before being
airlifted to safety.
When AFP met her a few days after the disaster, Dewald, now 40, described herself as "technically homeless and unemployed".
The petrol station where she worked with her husband was razed to the ground, and her house was left uninhabitable as waters from the river Ahr rose to the window ledges on the first floor.
Dewald and her husband "quickly took the decision... to get the station up and running again", helped by a €70,000 insurance payout, she says.
An architect's drawing of the building that will eventually be their new office hangs on the wall.
The Dewald family home is still being renovated after a long battle with their insurance company.
Returning to live in the middle of a flood zone doesn't faze them, though Dewald is hoping the flood warning system will work better if it happens again. "We don't overthink things," she laughs.
On July 14th, 2021, the Dewalds' petrol station remained open until 9pm - less than three hours before torrents of water began sweeping
through the town.
READ ALSO: Why have so many died in the German floods?
Mud-smeared wine bottles
In the cellars of Peter Kriechel's vineyard in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, the barrels are lined up, the steel vats are gleaming and everything is ready for the 2022 harvest.
A tasting room next door is buzzing with visitors.
It's a far cry from this time last year, when the cellar was completely filled with water.
In the Ahr valley, known for the pinot noir that grows on its steep slopes, the economy relies significantly on wine production and the tourism it
generates.
After the floods, the region's winegrowers raised 4.5 million euros by selling 180,000 mud-smeared bottles of wine rescued from their cellars.
"It helped us all enormously," says Kriechel, who wants to take the idea further by venturing "into the next dimension, the metaverse".
A selection of remaining bottles numbered from 1 to 99 are still to be auctioned off - including number 14, the day of the floods.
That special bottle will be sold in the form of an NFT, a digital token that can be used to represent the ownership of unique items.
By Jean-Philippe LACOUR
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