BERLIN — The death toll from devastating floods in
Europe soared to
at least 108 on Friday, most in western
Germany where emergency responders were
frantically searching for missing people.
اضافة اعلان
Adding to the devastation, several more were
feared dead in a landslide in northern Germany on Friday triggered by
floods.
Hundreds were unaccounted for in the
country, while the death toll in Belgium jumped to 15 with more than 21,000
people left without electricity in one region.
Luxembourg and the Netherlands were also
hammered by heavy rains, inundating many areas and forcing thousands to be
evacuated in the city of Maastricht.
But Germany was the hardest hit, with
unsuspecting residents caught completely off guard by the torrent dubbed the
"flood of death" by Germany's top-selling daily Bild.
"I fear that we will only see the full
extent of the disaster in the coming days," Chancellor Angela Merkel said
from Washington late Thursday, where she met with President Joe Biden.
Streets and houses were submerged by water
in some areas, while cars were left overturned on soaked streets after flood
waters passed. Some districts were completely cut off from the outside world.
In Ahrweiler, several houses collapsed
completely, drawing comparisons to the aftermath of a tsunami.
At least 24 people were confirmed dead in
Euskirchen, one of the worst-hit towns just to the north.
"My empathy and my heart go out to all
of those who in this catastrophe lost their loved ones, or who are still
worrying about the fate of people still missing," Merkel told reporters in
Washington.
Adding to the town's woes, a nearby dam
remains at risk of giving way.
- Fearing the worst -
The number of casualties in North
Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) has reached 43, bringing the national toll to at least
93, authorities said Friday.
Germany's toll was likely to rise with large
numbers of people still missing in NRW and Rhineland-Palatinate, the
hardest-hit states.
In the devastated Ahrweiler district of
Rhineland-Palatinate, around 1,300 people were unaccounted for, although local
authorities told Bild the high number was likely due to damaged phone networks.
Regional interior minister Roger Lewentz
told local media that up to 60 people were believed to be missing, " and
when you haven't heard from people for such a long time... you have to fear the
worst".
"The number of victims will likely keep
rising in the coming days," he added.
Several people were dead and missing after a
landslide in Erftstadt-Blessem in NRW, local officials said Friday.
"Houses were largely swept away by the
water and some collapsed," the Cologne local authority said on Twitter,
while a spokeswoman for the local government told AFP there were
"confirmed" deaths.
- Billions in damages -
Gerd Landsberg, head of the German
Association of Towns and Municipalities, said the cost of the damage was likely
to run into "billions of euros".
Winfied Koeller, a resident of the city of
Hagen in NRW, told public broadcaster WDR he had "never experienced
anything like this in my life" after being rescued from his car by
firefighters.
Also in Hagen, Sebastian Kiefer was helping
to fill sandbags in front of a local restaurant. "It's crazy when you
think about the power behind the water," he told WDR.
Konstantin Hartmann, from the village of
Roetgen-Mulartshuette in the Eifel region, told the broadcaster his barn had
been completely destroyed. "It's all ruined in there. Nobody helped us,
nobody."
In Belgium, the army has been sent to four
of the country's 10 provinces to help with rescue and evacuations.
The swollen Meuse river "is going to
look very dangerous for Liege", a nearby city of 200,000 people, warned
Wallonia regional president Elio Di Rupo.
- Climate change? -
The severe storms have put climate change
back at the centre of Germany's election campaign ahead of a September 26 poll
marking the end of Merkel's 16 years in power.
Germany "must prepare much better"
in future, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said, adding that "this
extreme weather is a consequence of climate change".
Because a warmer atmosphere holds more
water, climate change increases the risk and intensity of flooding from extreme
rainfall.
In urban areas with poor drainage and
buildings located in flood zones, the damage can be severe.
Political candidates were quick to comment
following the floods.
North Rhine-Westphalia premier Armin Laschet, the
conservative running to succeed Merkel, called for "speeding up"
global efforts to fight
climate change, underlining the link between global
warming and extreme weather.
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