Synopsis
On the evening of July 14, 2021, a flood wave causes the otherwise tranquil Ahr River in Rhineland-Palatinate to swell to over seven meters. The water sweeps away cars and houses, killing 135 people. In North Rhine-Westphalia and Belgium, heavy rain and floods also cause huge destruction. What exactly happened on the night of the flood? And was it all just weather or is climate change also responsible?
Our film Die Nacht, als die Flut kam (The Night the Flood Came ) accompanies the people along the Ahr River and shows in previously unreleased footage how they experienced the catastrophe. Starting from a regional event, the documentary also broadens the perspective to the global climate situation. International researchers provide an overview of how climate change contributes to such disasters and what we can expect in the future. Are the events on the Ahr really unprecedented? And how much more likely have such climate events become globally? Examples from Japan, Bangladesh, the USA, Australia and Africa, spread all over the world, show: The flood on the Ahr, just one piece of the mosaic in a world that is out of balance.
