Siobhan Robbins, Europe Correspondent In the Ahr Valley today they are remembering the deadly floods that hit western Germany last year, killing more than 180 people and changing thousands of lives. Winemaker Peter Kriechel lost around €4 million overnight when his vineyards and cellars flooded. Some 40 thousand liters of wine and 20 thousand bottles were destroyed. “It was devastating,” Petros told me. “It was like a tsunami. It was a big wave. It came up really fast. In 15 minutes it was two meters and it kept going up to almost 10 meters.” In the last year he has helped raise around 4.5 million euros to help winemakers rebuild by selling “flutwein” or floodwine. These are wine bottles squished in the mud from the flood – an enduring symbol of the disaster. They’ve become collectibles – with another anniversary auction today. They hope to raise more than 20,000 euros. Amid the ongoing heatwave in Europe, experts said extreme weather events will become more frequent due to climate change – a huge concern for people here. “We are winemakers,” said Petros. “We live with nature completely here – it’s our life. “We are feeling the impact of climate change directly – with flooding but also with rising temperatures.”
