In the night from July 14 to 15, Germany experienced its worst natural desaster since the storm floods at the Northern Sea in 1962.
This time desaster struck the Western regions of the country, especially the Ahr valley, a picturesque area, famous for its wine.
Heavy rains, like 200 liter per sqm in short time, turned the Ahr river, a normally docile creek of 60 cm depth into a raging maelstrom of 7 meters and in some areas 14 meters.
As of now, 141 dead, 600 injured, hundreds of houses destroyed, bridges, roads, railway tracks washed away.
A valley of about 50 kilometers long got battered, by flood waves which can only be compared to a tsunami.
It is impossible to grasp the extent of the destruction by looking at pictures, but today I found this video which shows a scenic ride along the Ahr Red Wine Road from 2015, so before the flood and contrasts it with the situation two weeks after the flood.