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Status: 25.09.2021, 9:08 a.m.
After the landslide in Erftstadt-BlesseM, the Darkels are the first residents on the edge of the demolition that are withdrawn.But the construction site on the ground floor and basement is a burden - also because it is not clear when money comes from the reconstruction fund.
By Sabine Büttner
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Finally back home: For a few days now, the darkness has been living again in their house on the Radmacherstrasse in Erftstadt-Blessem.There is still only construction current here.The fact that washing machine and stove are on at the same time does not work, says Maria Dunkel.There is also no heating.Instead, there is a small mobile heater in the living room.
And yet Ulrich Dunkel says:
Retreate: "I would never have got through it alone"
The darkness have the most important living rooms on the first floor of their house - for them luck in misfortune, otherwise the return would not be possible.The ground floor and the basement were completely destroyed at the flood in July.An architect has made an expert opinion: Accordingly, the building damage alone is almost 90,000 euros.
Now the darkness hope for reconstruction aid from the country."With the help of my son we filled out the application last Sunday, so we sat together for an hour and a half," says 67-year-old Maria Dunkel."Before that, he had already read in and filled out everything he could. I would never have got through it alone."
Uncertainty: When does money come and how much?
Now the dark people are wondering whether they get money - when it comes and how much they will get: "We only commissioned the bare essentials to the craftsmen, only what was absolutely necessary," says son Thomas Dunkel."The first editions have been made from the savings, but everything was prepared again, so we would be overwhelmed. We have to wait for the funds or take out a loan."
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Waltraud Groten in the garden: The earth was sagged directly behind her house.
In the house opposite, the reconstruction fund is also an issue: Waltraud and Günter Groten had given an appointment with the city to get support for the application.But when they arrived in the town hall, they were disappointed: "We thought that you have all the documents ready, then someone sits, who will take it up and then you will get a message at some point," says Waltraud Groten.Instead, they would have been told that this was not possible.
The city's counseling center was no help to those affected
"For legal reasons they are not allowed to enter this themselves. We should be told. That's why we should sit down on the computer where we have never been sitting before."The Grotens, 79 and 80 years old, go home - frustrated and disappointed.Now her son takes care of the application.
Günter and Waltraud Groten in their destroyed cuisine.
The Groten family is also dependent on financial help.They have gained their ground floor with the help of many volunteers, new screed has been in it, and the living room has even been wallpapered for a few days.Günter Groten still overwhelms the help of many volunteers: "Helpers came from the Stuttgart area. They plastered the walls, stuck wallpaper, painted."Without this help, the two say, they would have given up long ago.
New damage is visible
Because again and again new unpleasant surprises come.Oil damage in the wall has become visible in the kitchen.From the neighboring house, heating oil has penetrated the walls with the flood.Günter Groten hopes that he will get this damage under control.But it will still take before he and his wife.Both hope that they will be Christmas in the house again.
Until then there is still a lot of work in front of them.The edge of the demolition on which the flood had torn the earth away is located directly behind the garden of the Grotens."Our old life is swimming away, that is down there in the pit," says Waltraud Groten."We had a completed life, we had rest, wanted to enjoy it. But now it's restless."She still gets up several times at night.
Uneasy nights, wait for raindrops
Neighbor Maria Dunkel has also had many sleepless nights.With the return home, many memories came up again: "You can listen to every sound, you pay attention to cracking, wait for raindrops."And as much as her husband is happy to be back home - Ulrich Dunkel also says that he will never forget how he had to experience when several houses on the other side of the street had disappeared with the flood: "You only need to get out of the windowLook out. Especially where the houses were gone, the picture - you take that into the grave, you cannot switch it away. "
