By Theresa Aengenheyster | Project Leader
In the flood-damaged Ahr valley, there are still numerous houses without adequate
heating even in the second winter after the devastating flood disaster. In a joint
project led by Aktion Deutschland Hilft´s alliance organizations the
Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe (JUH) e.V. Regionalverband Mittelrhein, the aid
organizations Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB) e.V., Malteser Hilfsdienst e.V. and
Help - Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe e. V. had a total of 50 emergency heaters made
to donate to the affected families in the communities of Dernau, Rech
and Mayschoß.
The first heaters have arrived on site and will be installed in the next few
days. The Johanniter, the ASB, the Malteser and Help are part of Aktion
Deutschland Hilft. The emergency heaters were financed from donations from
the alliance.
Each emergency heater can supply up to three houses
The emergency heaters were financed from donations from Aktion Deutschland
Hilft, manufactured in Lower Saxony - by a merger of wholesalers, plant and
heating construction companies. The costs per system amount to around 14,000
euros. The heating output is 24 kilowatts (KW) each.
"Each system can supply up to three houses with heating and hot water, since
they are decentralized, in the garden
or in the driveway, in a small wooden container," explains the project leader.
Initially, however, a key from one to one is planned, i.e. one system per
household. The emergency heaters are operated on oil basis, a conversion to
gas and liquid gas is possible.
"They are quite economical, mobile and therefore flexible to use"
"The big advantage of the emergency heaters: they are quite economical, mobile
and therefore flexible to use," says project manager for flood
relief at the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund e.V.
"The systems are intended to bridge the acute supply problem. We expect that
they will be used on site for the next two to three years," adds Federal
Commissioner for Flood Relief of the Malteser Hilfsdienst e.V.
If there is no longer a need at the current destination, the containers and
heating system can be dismantled at any time, temporarily stored and/or used
at a new destination. To date, however, there are no concrete plans for this.
Further emergency heaters are planned if required
All households that will receive emergency heating in the coming weeks were
determined by the respective municipalities and the reconstruction company
Zukunft Mittelahr. "Should there be any further needs, we'll try to help here as
quickly as possible," says project leader. Affected households could contact
their community in Dernau, Rech and Mayschoss.
This help is only possibly thanks to your donation. Thank you!
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