State support: Merkel announces federal aid for flood victims

State support: Merkel announces federal aid for flood victims

More than 40 people have already died as a result of the floods in several parts of Germany. Many more have lost their belongings. The federal government announces quick help.

Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has promised support to the people in the flood areas in Germany. Wherever the federal government can help, it will do so, said Merkel on Thursday on the sidelines of her visit to Washington.

“These are horrific days for the people in the floodplains. My thoughts are with you. And they can trust that all the forces in our state – from the federal, state and local levels – will work together to save lives, avert dangers and alleviate hardship, even under the most difficult of conditions. “

Federal Minister of Agriculture Julia Klöckner (CDU) also announced an aid program for those affected by the storm disaster in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia.

“As the federal government, we will launch an emergency aid program,” said Klöckner on Thursday. She agreed with the Federal Minister of the Interior, Horst Seehofer (CSU), that the many people who had lost their belongings due to the storm had to be paid out money quickly and unbureaucratically. “They are great tragedies, they can hardly be put into words,” explained Klöckner, who is also the CDU chairman of the Rhineland-Palatinate. “The Federal Government will be at the side of those affected with all the means at its disposal.”

Previously, FDP leader Christian Lindner had called for quick federal support for the victims of the storm.

“To this end, the Federal Minister of Finance can reactivate the development aid fund that was set up after the 2013 flood. This means that tried and tested instruments that have already been introduced are available that can work quickly and easily, ”said Lindner of the German Press Agency. “Should a resolution by the German Bundestag be necessary for this, the FDP would be ready for a special session at any time.” First the “Bild” newspaper reported.

The pictures of the catastrophe are “shocking and affect us,” said the party chairman, who informed himself about the situation on Thursday in Leichlingen in his constituency of Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis and spoke to employees of the local fire brigade.

«The emergency services are doing great things in these hours. The victims deserve our sympathy and solidarity, ”he said earlier. Even after the acute need of these hours, those affected should not be left alone. “Nobody can protect themselves against such a stroke of fate alone, which is why we as a state solidarity community are called upon”, says Lindner. “The federal government also has a responsibility here, because it is a catastrophe of national dimensions. Federal emergency aid should be decided immediately by the federal government. “

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