As the floods which have devastated homes and caused over 150 deaths recede in the Rhineland, three types of political implications have already emerged.
People are talking about climate change – for the first time during the campaign. Armin Laschet, Merkel’s successor, failed to rise to the occasion when he was caught laughing as the German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier addressed grieving families in the Rhineland. And it also emerged that flood warnings were issued, but were not passed on to the population.
Germany is still in shock, especially because other parts of the country have since flooded. South-eastern Bavaria has now suffered the worst floods ever recorded, with massive destruction of infrastructure. The political fallout will take some time to emerge. But the Greens stand to profit from all three of these developments.
The European flood awareness system issued a warning four days before the catastrophe, and transmitted warnings to the German weather services.
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