More than 60 dead and dozens missing in heavy floods in Germany and Belgium
Low pressure system brings storms and flash flooding to Germany and Belgium, sweeping away homes and threatening dams
The aerial photograph shows the district of Altenburg, Germany, Thursday, July 15, 2021 flooded by the Ahr river. (Image: AP)
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Bernd Lauter/AFP via Getty Images
Severe flooding in Germany and Belgium on Thursday has left more than 65 people dead, with dozens missing.
Most of the deaths have been reported in Germany, including nine that occurred at an assisted living facility for people with disabilities.
Heavy rains filled reservoirs and caused rivers to overflow, sending water surging down streets. The full extent of the damage in both countries is unknown, as rescuers are unable to get into some villages due to debris blocking the roads. I grieve for those who have lost their lives in this disaster, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday during a visit to the White House. We still don t know the number. But it will be many. To say there was heavy rain and flooding doesn t capture what happened, she added.
Among the worst-hit German villages was Schuld, where several homes collapsed and dozens of people remained unaccounted for.
Rescue operations were hampered by blocked roads and phone and internet outages across the Eifel, a volcanic region of rolling hills and small valleys. Some villages were reduced to rubble as old brick and timber houses couldn’t withstand the sudden rush of water, often carrying trees and other debris as it gushed through narrow streets.
Karl-Heinz Grimm, who had come to help his parents in Schuld, said he had never seen the small Ahr River surge in such a deadly torrent.
“I fear the full extent of this tragedy will only be seen in the coming days, she said. Biden likewise paid his condolences for the devastating loss of life and the destruction due to the flooding. “Our hearts go out to the families who’ve lost loved ones,” he said. Authorities said at least 30 people died in North Rhine-Westphalia state and 28 in neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate to the south. Belgian media reported eight deaths in that country.
Harald Tittel/AP
People look at the destruction caused by the flooding of the Ahr River in the Eifel village of Schuld, western Germany. Recent storms across parts of western Europe made rivers and reservoirs burst their banks, triggering flash floods overnight after the saturated soil couldn’t absorb any more water.
By FRANK JORDANS | Associated Press Jul 15, 2021
5 hrs ago
BERLIN (AP) â More than 60 people have died and dozens were missing Thursday as severe flooding in Germany and Belgium turned streams and streets into raging torrents that swept away cars and caused houses to collapse.
Recent storms across parts of western Europe made rivers and reservoirs burst their banks, triggering flash floods overnight after the saturated soil couldn t absorb any more water. I grieve for those who have lost their lives in this disaster, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a visit to Washington, expressing shock at the scope of the flooding. We still don t know the number. But it will be many.