While the Nürburgring GP track and Nordschleife seem to be largely intact, the region is suffering from one of the largest natural disasters on record.
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>> CLICK HERE SKIP TO UPDATE 1 <<
>> CLICK HERE FOR THE UPDATE #2 (Friday AM) <<
>>CLICK HERE FOR UPDATE #3 (Friday PM)<<
With over 70 people missing, many dead, and dozens of villages completely flooded, the pressure on emergency services is huge.
As I write this, reinforcements are arriving from all over Western Germany, and the latest death toll is already at 21.
Internet connections, phone lines, power and mobile phone services are only just coming back online, albeit sporadically.
While the DN trackday and touristenfahrten sessions are cancelled for today, a full plan for reopening has yet to be announced. With poor communications, thanks to infrastructure damage, and a lot of Nürburgring staff working hard with the emergency services for the next few days, I’d ask for everybody’s patience. The ‘Ring will be back online soon, have no doubt.
For now my condolences are with the families and friends who have lost so much.
UPDATE 1:
- Touristenfahrten is officially cancelled for tonight (Thursday) and tomorrow (Friday), and a decision about this weekend’s opening will be made tomorrow. But don’t make plans to visit.
- Truck GP is totally cancelled
- Lindner has officially opened the doors to both hotels and their 200+ holiday homes for the newly homeless
- Local banks and companies have already offered nearly €1m in immediate financial aid
- Internet and phone lines are sporadically failing, many villages are totally cut-off from the grid.
- Nuerburgring staff and equipment are already helping in the life-saving and recovery operations.
Photos of Schuld, where many local Nurburgring faces lived, via Voice of America(?!) below:
UPDATE 2 (Friday Morning)
- The Nuerburgring Nordschleife will remain closed for the whole weekend, with more news to follow on Monday. It might open, it might not. We can’t even speculate right now.
- Infrastructure: internet and telephony is returning to many areas, but the worst hit villages are still largely cut-off.
- Roads: The B257 is a mess, you’re not gonna be driving that way to the ‘Ring for a while. Same goes for most of the ‘Ahrtal-strecke’ all the way from the B258 near Musch (which is also in bad shape). And even the A61 near Meckenheim fell into the water… Long story short: approach from the east or the south-east. But arriving from the North to West is hard.
- Charity 1: For locals the Nuerburgring have set up a collection point for nearly-new clothes and housewares. Imagine your entire house disappeared, and you’re living in a sportshall with your whole family with only the wet clothes on your back. Now imagine what you’d like. That’s what you can donate. Toiletries, house-hold items, good clothes, kids toys, etc…
- Charity 2: A bank account has been setup by the local council of Adenau. Donations can be made directly using the banking info here: https://hochwasseradenau.de/
- Even further afield, towards Koeln, the floods are still wreaking damage, with landslides, sinkholes and bursting dams:
UPDATE 3: Touristenfahrten cancelled until at least July 22
