135 people lost their lives last summer in the flood disaster, which occurred mainly in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. It was one of the largest natural disasters in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. Even though many are talking about a flood once in a millennium, weather experts expect that such events will become more frequent in the future due to climate change. This makes an answer to the question: What went wrong back then all the more important? A team of authors from SWR and WDR set out to find the errors and wanted to know: Were early meteorological warnings not taken seriously? Why did important information get lost on its way through the authorities, where were the responsible state politicians and why did they leave disaster management to the largely voluntary forces of the municipalities that were submerged in the floods? Our reporters were out and about in the Ahr Valley, in Hagen, Stolberg, Erftstadt and Schleiden. They met flood victims, mayors, relief workers and everyone is still asking the same question today: Why were we not warned in time? How could there have been so many deaths? Questions to which politicians have not yet found convincing answers. The film traces the chronicle of a failure. It shows the decisive days from July 10 to 16, 2021 and comes to the conclusion: This event can happen again at any time. Some weak points have now been identified, but most have not yet been remedied. Disaster protection in Germany is still poorly positioned. Floodplains continue to be built up and flood forecasting systems for smaller bodies of water are still in their infancy. The political investigation has already occupied two committees of inquiry in Mainz and Düsseldorf. In both countries, the environment ministers have since resigned. But more needs to happen to better protect people from such disasters in the future. ???? If you liked this video, give us a like! ______ ???? A film for Die Story im Ersten by Judith Brosel, Kai Diezemann, Torsten Reschke and Marko Rösseler. This film was produced in 2022. All statements and facts correspond to the status at the time and have not been updated since then. ______ ???? More about the flood in the ARD media library: https://1.ard.de/yt_flut_mediathek Other documentaries on the topic: ???? The flood and the children: How Fynn, Merlin and Luis have lived since the flood disaster - • Video ???? Flood disaster 2021: A storm that was underestimated - • Video ???? Destroyed flood areas: How are people doing today? - • Destroyed flood areas: How are people doing... ???? The water went, the trauma remained - Return to the flood area - • The water went, the trauma remained - R... ???? After the flood: They lost everything - • After the flood: They lost everything... ???? Flood overnight - Flood disaster in the Ahr valley: A village rebuilds - • Flood overnight - Flood disaster... ______ #Flooddisaster #Flood #WDRDoku #DisasterProtection