Storm - Backhaus continues to hope for federal aid to repair flood damage
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Environment Minister Till Backhaus (SPD) has not yet given up hope of receiving financial aid from the federal government to repair flood damage on the Baltic coast. The finding of the specially appointed working group that the storm floods in October were not a natural disaster of national proportions is to be accepted. "However, the federal government has promised the states of Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania that it will examine our proposal as to whether residual funds from the joint task of agricultural structure and coastal protection can be made available if the other states agree. This examination is currently underway and we very much hope that the federal government will help in the end," Backhaus explained in Schwerin on Monday.
He was responding to information from Berlin on Sunday. According to a government spokesperson, the responsible Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture has come to the conclusion that the amount of flood damage of around 240 million euros does not indicate that the storm surge was a natural disaster of national proportions. This means that, unlike the devastation in the Ahr Valley in the summer of 2021, which caused damage of up to 30 billion euros, the federal government is not obliged to help.
According to the spokesperson, the federal government is already contributing more than two thirds of the costs of financing coastal protection measures as part of the Joint Task (GAK). It is now being examined whether any remaining unspent GAK funds can be reallocated and made available to the two affected states.
The storm surge on the night of October 21 caused enormous destruction along the Baltic coast. According to Backhaus, damage amounting to 56 million euros was caused in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania alone. Coastal regions in Schleswig-Holstein were hit much harder. The Minister President of Kiel, Daniel Günther (CDU), is therefore continuing to insist that the federal government make an appropriate contribution to repairing the damage. A spokeswoman for the State Chancellery in Kiel said on Sunday in response to an inquiry that the report from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture had been received with some surprise.
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Source: www.stern.de
