Flood Damage Commissioner?

 From this region in the western part of Germany where the flood business occurred (Altenahr)....a letter signed by the mayor, and a group of mayors from the region has been sent to Berlin (to the Chancellor).

What they suggest is that the situation around this flood-damaged region is so severe....that the local and state government can't deliver what is needed in terms of fixing things.  They want a federally appointed Commissioner appointed, with 'powers'.  Reaction by Berlin?  Well....they really don't want to get into this discussion.  It invites a whole bunch of funding issues, and revolves around one single guy to handle the mess.....which politically....stages a future list of complaints against the guy.

Are the mayors correct?  If you view the damage and multiple villages/towns affected....involving two German states, with work likely to take five to ten years for absolute full recovery, then the mayors are correct.

Yesterday, I read a piece over the discussion of preventing future floods.  A fair number of experts say that nothing should be rebuilt until you have a plan to prevent future flooding in the region.  The hint here?  Just the talk and planning for this situation....would require six months of effort....meaning locals would not be allowed to rebuild anything until this master plan was finished.  How happy would the locals be?  

Added to this....some folks are suggesting that the villages in some cases...should be moved further away from the streams.  How would you compensate people for property?  Unknown, this has never been accomplished in Germany to this level of work.

If you asked locals on crisis management?  Presently, I think they'd virtually all give failing grades to the state and federal government.  If there was a master-plan existing...it was probably developed forty years ago and severely lacking on details.

I sat and watched a piece last night via public TV on the village of Rech (500 residents).  No power, no natural gas, no sewage capability, and the only water is bottled water brought in.  Based on the images....I would have doubts that the majority of residents stay in the village....most will pack and leave by the end of the year.

So to the idea of a recovery commissioner being appointed?  I would question where you'd find the guy with qualifications required, and how long would he last (I doubt if the first guy even makes it to one-hundred days).  All of this leading to a cost problem....involving over ten-billion Euro?  Probably.  

The occasion where a US creation like FEMA would likely fit?  Most likely.  

Here's the thing....the damaged region needs a prospective and presently....the Merkel crew is just not able to deliver on that.