Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) – After the flood disaster in North Rhine-Westphalia in July last year, the state approved around 1.9 billion euros in aid for municipalities, companies and private individuals. Municipal Minister Ina Scharrenbach (CDU) announced this to the state parliament on Friday in Düsseldorf.

More than 20,900 applications have so far been made by affected citizens. Of these, 19,700 were approved or paid out in the approval process and 568 million euros or in the process of being paid out. The largest item is the reconstruction of damaged infrastructure at 1.18 billion euros.

In the flood disaster in July 2021, 49 people died in NRW alone. Tens of thousands of people were affected. The federal and state governments provided a total of around 12.3 billion euros for reconstruction.