FLOOD RELIEF IN THE FLOODED AREA – WE MET DACHZELTNOMADEN

Dachzeltnomaden – In the night from July 14 to 15, 2021, a devastating flood hit large areas of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia after extreme storms. Within hours, the waters of many rivers and streams rose, even reaching levels of an incredible 7 to 8 meters in some areas – nearly five meters above the worst flood to date in 2016. We invited the relief organization of Dachzeltnomaden to share more about their activities and efforts. You’ll find out how you can additionally support the organization in the course of the interview:

4 Questions for the aid organization of Dachzeltnomaden

Who are you? –

We are a relief organization, which was created by the flood disaster in July 2021 in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. The organization emerged from a team of the camping interested community “Dachzeltnomaden”, of which at that time a team with collected donations made its way to the Ahr valley. On site, the team realized that these donations were not enough and that further help was needed. Together with local helpers, a meadow was cleared for camping in Rupperath, a village above the Ahr Valley, and the village’s community center was converted into a supply station for volunteers. At the same time, an appeal was made in the Dachzeltnomaden community and the catastrophic conditions in the flood area were reported. As a result, numerous volunteers signed up and made their way to the flood area. This was the starting signal for the flood relief project and the subsequent foundation of the DZN relief organization. Since then, we have been coordinating volunteers to help those affected in the flood area.

What is the vision/goal of your project? And what have you already achieved ? –

We have now been in action for over 600 days and have coordinated over 3,000 volunteers during this time. In order to coordinate the many people, we have set up a volunteer camp. Here we offer the helpers free sleeping accommodation, access to sanitary facilities and food. In addition, we organize the construction sites for the helpers, provide them with all the necessary tools, work clothes and protective equipment. Together with a site manager, we then shuttle the volunteers to the construction sites in the flooded area. As a result, we have already been able to help over 380 affected households in 65 affected towns.

What can people do to support your project? –

First and foremost, you can support the people affected and our project by helping out on site. Even after more than 20 months, there is still a lot to do. Many houses have to be demolished after they were gutted in order to rebuild them. Often the oil contamination in the masonry – or the moisture is too high. No one can handle these tasks alone, but together we can do it! So sign up, come along and give those affected a chance of a new home. Registration and all information can be found on our website: https://dzn-hilfe.com/helfen-vor-ort/.

If you don’t have the possibility to “rock” with us on site, you can support us financially, because the organization is financed by donations. There are two ways to donate: Quite simply, you can donate via our “Amazon Wish List”. Here we regularly put consumables and tools on it, which you can buy us and thereby support us with a donation in kind. Link to the list: https://www.amazon.de/hz/wishlist/ls/12790XTWP54JK/ref=hz_ls_biz_ex

Another possibility is a monetary donation to our account. Either earmarked with the purpose “Hochwasserhilfe Flut 2021” or without a purpose, which allows us to use the money variably.

Account data:

Dachzeltnomaden Hilfsorganisation gemeinnützige GmbH
IBAN: DE105776159117285800
BIC: GENODED1BNAor via Paypal

What do you wish for the year? –

As we unfortunately have to end the flood relief project on 30.06.2023 for financial reasons, we wish to be able to help those affected as much as possible once again and thus find a good conclusion to this very moving project.

Are you interested in other companies or organizations we have talked to? Then feel free to check out this blog post about our partner Planeterra.