The bookkeeping floats between the tents. The restaurant building has been completely destroyed. A bridge connecting two parts of the campsite has been smashed. Playground equipment floats in the river. Mèlani Betten describes extensively on the phone the disaster area in which she ended up in no time. There’s no end to it.
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Destroyed in no time
“It’s terrible and it has all happened so quickly,” says the campground owner who runs Kyllburg campground with her husband Roy. Just across the border, about an hour and a half drive from Maastricht. She remains strong because of one thing: “That there were no deaths and that all our guests were evacuated in time.”
In the town of Kyllburg, people are all missing, she says. “Houses have completely collapsed. It is a terrible disaster. Everyone has been completely overwhelmed by the water.”
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A dream that breaks apart
Mèlani bought the German campsite in 2018 with her husband Roy. “We once met at a campsite. In Groningen. I was on the animation team, Roy also worked there.”
Starting their own campsite was the couple’s dream. “We didn’t hesitate for a moment when this campsite came up for sale. In a beautiful nature reserve in the Eifel, in the middle of nature. It was exactly what we were looking for.”
Everything has been shut down in the past year because of corona. Finally something was possible. “The holiday had begun. We were almost full and had about 400, 500 guests.”
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Don’t win a fight
And then the water came and the River Kyll overflowed its banks. “When the reports came on Wednesday that the water level would rise above 2 meters, we immediately decided to evacuate all guests. We were helped by people from the village and the fire brigade. We are very happy that everyone left on time. grateful for.”
In the end, the water level rose to 4.60 metres, says Mèlani. “As we walked across the campsite on Wednesday evening, I saw that it was going to go completely wrong. The water was up to my bra and I am 1.76 meters. And it just kept going up, it all went so fast. I have the enormous strength of felt the water. We knew what we had to do: get out. This fight was unwinnable.”
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Damage is gigantic
Now that the water is receding, the havoc is visible. Mèlani thinks the damage to the campsite is hundreds of thousands of euros. “The insurer will come by this afternoon. We have to wait and see. Friends and family have started a crowdfunding. That support does us good.”
She doesn’t want to leave. “Our house is on a hill and is still intact. We will not let ourselves be chased away. But it will be very difficult to rebuild everything.”
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