Last week prolonged and torrential rainfall triggered catastrophic floods throughout western Europe. Among the hardest hit was the Ahr Valley in Germany which is best known for its pittoresque villages and famous wines. The flood not only killed 134 people in the Ahr valley but also destroyed houses, businesses, roads, vehicles and most bridges over the river.
“The economic devastation that accompanied the floods was particularly hard felt by the region’s more than 38 wineries, many of whom lost their facilities, cellars, machinery, wine barrels, cellared inventory and more,” wrote the German Wine Institute in a statement. It could take weeks to quantify reports of damage to Ahr Valley wineries, Monika Reule, managing director of the German Wine Institute said.
Hard hit was also Sinziger Mineralbrunnen, a producer of soft drinks and mineral water located in Sinzig in the Ahr valley. “The Ahr, which normally forms the company's natural boundary on one side, flooded on the night of the catastrophe of July 14th on July 15th over the entire well area and caused severe damage,”Thomas Beckmann, managing director of the Sinziger Mineralbrunnen said in a facebook post.
“The clean-up work has been in full swing for ten days. It is not yet possible to estimate when regular operations will be restored. We are currently working together with the entire Franken Brunnen Group, of which we are a 100% subsidiary, on pragmatic transitional solutions in order to resume business operations as quickly as possible.
