This is the worst natural disaster to hit the country in more than half a century. Neighboring Belgium is also paying a high price with at least 20 deaths, according to a recent government report.
This flood may be the worst disaster our country has ever seen
, Prime Minister Alexander de Crowe declared Tuesday a day of national mourning. Heavy rains also caused severe damage in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland.
In Verviers, Belgium, flood-ravaged garbage piled up in a road tunnel.
Photo: Reuters / Yves Herman
But according to a recent report released on Friday evening, at least 108 people have died in the region alone, much to the west of Germany, which has been hit hardest by flash floods. The number of deaths we have detected has increased
, Rhineland-Palatinate Interior Minister Roger Levendts confirmed five new deaths in the evening.
This area is one of the two most affected, and the other is neighboring northern Rhine-Westphalia. We have lived here for over 20 years and we have never experienced anything like this and it feels like we are at war.
, TestifiedAFP Hans-Dieter Wrongen, 65, of Schultz, a largely devastated village in the Rhineland-Palatinate.
Many homes were destroyed by floods in Schultz, near Bad Nieuhner in West Germany.
Photo: AFP / Bernd Lauter
Many areas in this area present a ruined picture, and the number is likely to rise further. As the cellars are emptied or water is pumped, we continue to fall on the bodies of the people who perished in these waves, so I cannot comment on the final balance.
, And explored Roger Lewands.
Dozens of people are still missing in these two regions. A section of a village collapsed automatically following a landslide on Friday near Cologne in Erfstadt. Spectacular images of the disaster area showed a vast screaming abyss filled with earth, brown water and debris. Authorities said several people were killed there.
In Erfstadt-Plassem, near Cologne, the landslide washed away homes Friday.
Photo: Reuters / via Rhine-Erft-Greece
These are mainly small streams, poorly protected, which suddenly emerge from their beds in the form of a flood under the influence of rain, occupying dozens of populated areas, often built in flood-affected areas. The only positive point: the water level started to drop on Friday.
About a thousand soldiers were mobilized to assist in relief and relief operations. Because now the repairs have to start: gas or telephone connections are unusable in many places, leaving hundreds of people homeless.
In Ahrwheeler, still in the Rhineland-Palatinate, many houses collapsed. Underneath the rubble, the city feels like it has been devastated by a tsunami.
At 11:30 at night there was only a little water and at 1 in the morning everything was underwater. Our apartment, our office, our neighbors’ houses, everything was under water. In 15 minutes. It was so fast.
This is a unique catastrophe, an unprecedented scale
, Stresses Gert Landsberg, executive director of the German Cities and Municipalities Association. Billions of euros are determined by the damage
, He figures.
This bad weather has put the issue of global warming at the center of a full-scale election campaign in Germany ahead of the September 26 legislative elections, which will eventually lead to Angela Merkel stepping down from power.
Flood-affected street in Ahweiler-Bad Nieuhner, Germany.
Photo: AFP / Christof Stache
Warmer climates can retain more water and cause heavy rainfall. These can have devastating effects, especially in urban areas, buildings with poorly drained waterways and flood-affected areas.
All candidates are running on promises, two and a half months before the election. Federal Republican President Frank-Walter Steinmeier urges fight in a unique statement With certainty
Against global warming.
Angela Merkel, who is currently visiting the United States, plans to visit the floodplain soon. These floods confirm what science says about global warming
European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen said in Dublin on Friday.
In Belgium, about 20 people are still missing and 21,000 people are losing electricity. In four of the country’s ten provinces, the military was involved in relief work, especially in large numbers of evacuations.
The situation could worsen in Switzerland as well, with many lakes and rivers at risk of flooding.
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