In July 2021, the worst flooding hit the provinces of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland Palatinate in Germany and neighboring Belgium as well as the Netherlands. The damage caused by the torrential rains left residents devastated. Volunteers from all parts of the country and from abroad were flocking together to rebuild the flood-ravaged regions.
Construction works to rebuild flood-ravaged regions in Germany
Sika immediately decided to adhere to a volunteering scheme and to support people, families and social communities in the context of its group-wide community engagement program Sika Cares. Employees of Sika Germany became active in two projects and were able to help people in the floodplains. Michael Freter, Technical Sales Advisor Distribution, Sika Germany, worked together with around 30 other volunteers from all over Germany from July 26th to 29th, 2021 in the towns of Meckenheim, Rheinbach, and Euskirchen, among others. The team helped communities whose buildings were destroyed by the floods and provided new flooring. The volunteers did help with construction works for a clubhouse, a retirement home, a child care center, and a residential building.
The volunteering work of Sika staff is bundled in the so-called “Bodenflut” (‘floor flooding’) initiative which aims to help victims of the flood by providing new flooring solutions. More than 30 companies in the flooring industry have cleared their warehouses and loaded almost 40,000 square meters of floor into over 16 trucks in order to rebuild buildings for the flood victims. The products were distributed to the victims in the Euskirchen, a town in North Rhine Westphalia, Germany, on Sunday, September 12th, 2021.
Michael Freter and his colleagues participated also at this project and provided flooring solutions and managed the logistics. Over 500 cars, tractors and other vehicles had to be brought into the correct waiting positions. Thanks to the excellent cooperation of volunteers, authorities and flood victims, the works proceeded efficiently and fast.
