During the night of August 13th to 14th, severe storms hit the Bruchsal region and caused flooding in the streets. Numerous cellars were flooded, and entire parts of the city were partially without power. One family that was hit particularly hard was the Krause family from Heidelsheim.
The entire ground floor was under water
“On August 13th we were still sitting outside in the garden and celebrating my niece’s birthday,” says Dragana Krause, recalling the day of the flooding in an interview with ka-news.de. “Then it started to rain, thunder and storm.” Her husband ran to the nearby Saalbach and noticed that the river was about to overflow. When he got home, the water was already in the yard. The family decided to drive straight to their relatives in Bretten. “That was a good thing,” says Dragana, “within two hours our entire house was full of water, mud and so on.”
Dragana Krause’s house was flooded by the overflowing Saalbach. | Photo: Thomas Riedel
A few days after the accident, the family of four – the youngest child was only a few days old at the time – contacted the local mayor Uwe Freidinger, who provided them with temporary accommodation in Heidelsheim. “Three days later we contacted Harald Wiedermann, who organized help for us to transport the furniture,” said Ms. Krause. Her apartment is currently no longer habitable, the entire ground floor was destroyed by the floods.
Thirteen volunteers responded to Harald Wiedemann’s call. | Image: Thomas Riedel
Another problem is that the family is not insured against natural hazards. “We were not included in the insurance at the time because we live too close to the Saalbach,” Krause explains to ka-news.de. “As soon as everything is dry and we can start the renovation work, we can then go back to our house – hopefully.”
Volunteers help with furniture transport
ka-news.de was also able to speak to Harald Wiedemann, the initiator of the voluntary support. The working firefighter from Karlsruhe founded the Facebook group “Warmth for the Ahr Valley” in 2021 and volunteered to help the victims of the flood disaster. “Due to the flood disaster here, I used this group again to reactivate the network,” explains Wiedemann. Through an appeal for help, a donor from Kraichtal provided a complete apartment furnishing, which has now been passed on to the Krause family.
Harald Wiedemann, initiator of the aid campaign. | Photo: Thomas Riedel
He put out an appeal through the Karlsruhe Fire Department, which “immediately received 13 responses from various fire departments in Karlsruhe” offering their support. “One of the people here today even came back from vacation a day early to be here. You can see the willingness to do something here.” On the morning of August 31, he and other volunteers dismantled the equipment. With the help of a vehicle each from the Karlsruhe Volunteer Fire Department and the Kraichtal Volunteer Fire Department, they took it to Heidelsheim and set it up there.
The volunteer fire departments from Karlsruhe and Kraichtal each provided a vehicle. | Image: Thomas Riedel
There were also various donors in Hildesheim who supported the campaign by providing the helpers with food and drink. “I think it’s really amazing what is being done here today,” Wiedemann sums up. Tobias Borho, mayor of Kraichtal, was also there and helped carry furniture. The father of the Krause family thanked all the helpers with the words: “Thank you, without you my family would have no place to stay.” He was moved to tears by the campaign. The donor of the facility also contacted Wiedemann and thanked the helpers for the campaign: “Thank you very much for your great campaign today. It’s really amazing what the fire brigade family is doing. Keep up the good work!”
