Avoiding past mistakes of the EU – Flood resilience expert warns Africa

A week after meteorologists published two months of rain in two days over western Germany, the death toll has risen to at least 171, of which 123 have been confirmed in the hilly district of Ahrweiler in the Rhineland- Palatinate.

Another 764 people were injured and 155 people are still missing.

The flood disaster in Germany sparked global unrest and discussions about how people died in western Germany.

Around 40,000 people are believed to have been affected by the flooding in the Ahr wine valley and neighboring regions of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The devastating floods left thousands of people in western Germany without access to clean water, electricity and gas.

The extent of damage to infrastructure in the region has only increased since the waters subsided completely a few days ago.

The researcher at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment said Africans should learn from European countries’ mistakes and not repeat them.

Dr Viktor Roezer explains that the way Europe designed its urban drainage systems and treated natural habitats in the past comes to haunt them today.

“Europe is the first continent to industrialize. We have a very long heritage of old drainage infrastructure and old buildings, ”he said.

He says most of the drainage systems in Europe are outdated and over 100 years old.

“They must now be replaced, which means that they must be dug in all the streets and put new pipes”,

Dr Roezer, who also works as a research fellow on the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance (ZFRA) project, says most European countries have destroyed natural habitats that could have absorbed much more water.

“We have destroyed a large part of our natural habitat in terms of natural forest which can absorb a lot more water”,

He says Africa has many opportunities to avoid repeating the EU’s mistakes and to value the natural environment to protect lives.

“In Europe we start by building but now we are trying to correct these mistakes but it is a long process. But if you don’t destroy the natural environment, you are in a much better place to be safe ”,

He urges Africa to do what it takes to build appropriate structures, recognizing that they must be adapted to the impacts of climate change.

“Africa has a young population and relatively new infrastructure would be built,” he said.

According to Dr Roezer, Europe has a long heritage of old technologies, especially in Germany. But Africa could essentially move beyond many old technologies and move directly to cell phone delivery for early warning systems.

Responding to questions about what could have led to catastrophic flooding in Germany, he tells JoyNews that Mahmud Mohammed-Nurudeen’s failure to manage the risks caused them.

He also says that the early warnings issued could not reach people.

Much like some people, especially in Africa, who believe that developed countries like Germany shouldn’t go this far, Dr Roezer has the same idea.

He says this is a country with all the technology and resources to put in place a functioning early warning system, but does not do so because Germany was considered a state sure.

Dr Roezer says these events like the devastating floods in Germany would often happen more, but that’s not something you can’t prepare for, at least in terms of saving lives.

“We can’t really blame climate change for the high number of deaths. I think this discussion can easily cover up some apparent problems we have in our risk management. “