German Town Helps Tsunami-hit Areas

Grimma, a small town in the former East Germany which was heavily flooded in 2002, has launched a fund-raising campaign for the thousands of victims of the tsunamis in south Asia. "We want them to experience the feeling of solidarity which we benefited from ourselves," mayor Matthias Berger told news agency AFP. The town of 18,000 inhabitants, suffered damages worth €250 million ($329 million) after the river Elbe burst its banks. Grimma's residents are being asked to support longer-term aid projects for women and children, but they have yet to decide exactly which project to support. "It will definitely be in Sri Lanka where the need is particularly great," Berger said. "People here have reacted very positively." The mayor said the devastated towns in south Asia could take heart from the way Grimma had been rebuilt after the floods. "Grimma is more beautiful than it was before," Berger said.