German Cabinet approves €400 million flood aid package

German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the district of Iversheim about the situation in the flood-affected area (Wolfgang Rattay/AP)

Germany’s Cabinet has approved a roughly €400 million package of immediate aid for victims of last week’s floods and vowed to get started quickly on rebuilding the devastated areas.

Finance minister Olaf Scholz said that the package, financed half by the federal government and half by Germany’s state governments, to help people deal with the immediate aftermath of the flooding will be expanded if more money is needed.