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The houses are submerged on the banks of the overflowing river in Erdorf, Germany, as the town was flooded on Thursday, July 15, 2021. Continued rains have flooded numerous towns and basements in Rhineland-Palatinate, in southwestern Germany. (Harald Tittel / dpa via AP)
BERLIN (AP) - At least six people have died and several are missing in Germany after heavy flooding turned streams and streets into raging torrents, washing away cars and causing buildings to collapse.
Police in the western city of Koblenz said in a tweet Thursday that four people had died in Ahrweiler County and about 50 were trapped on the roofs of their homes awaiting rescue.
Six houses collapsed overnight in the town of Schuld. "Many people have been reported missing to us," police said.
Authorities have declared an emergency in the region after days of heavy rain. Much of central and western Germany, as well as neighboring countries, have suffered widespread damage.
Police said an 82-year-old man died after a fall in his flooded basement in the western city of Wuppertal, which was one of the worst hit.
A firefighter drowned during rescue efforts in the western German town of Altena on Wednesday, and another man went missing in the eastern German town of Joehstadt after disappearing while trying to protect his property from the flood. from the waters, authorities said.
Incessant rains overnight made flooding conditions worse in eastern Belgium, where one person was reported to have drowned and at least one other is missing.
Some cities saw water levels rise to unprecedented levels and their centers became gushing rivers.
Major highways were flooded and in the south and east of the nation, the rail service said all traffic was stopped, adding that "alternative transportation is highly unlikely."
In eastern Eupen, on the border with Germany, a man was reported dead after being swept away by a torrent, a local governor told the RTBf network.
In Liege, the main city in eastern Belgium, the Meuse River could break in the early afternoon and spill into the heart of the city. The police warned citizens to take precautionary measures.
Authorities in the city of Valkenburg, in southern Holland, near the German and Belgian borders, evacuated a residence and hospice overnight amid floods that turned the main street of the resort town into a river, Dutch media reported.
An unknown number of houses in the southern province of Limburg were affected by the floods when the rivers overflowed. There were no reports of flood-related injuries in the Netherlands.
:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/KTRVFQZFJFENRD3CRVMIE4IDJQ.jpg?w=75&resize=75,75&ssl=1 "8 dead, dozens missing in Germany floods; 2 die in Belgium")
