BERLIN - Europe's death toll from devastating floods soared to at least 108 on Friday, the majority in West Germany, where emergency services were frantically searching for missing people.
In addition to the devastation, several more were feared to die in a landslide in northern Germany on Friday triggered by flooding.
Hundreds of people went missing in the country, while the death toll in Belgium rose to 15 and more than 21,000 people were left without power in one region.
Luxembourg and the Netherlands were also hit by heavy rains, flooding many areas and forcing thousands of people to be evacuated in the city of Maastricht.
But Germany was hit the hardest, with unsuspecting residents caught by the torrent dubbed "the deluge of death" by Germany's best-selling daily Bild.
"I'm afraid we will only see the full extent of the disaster in the next few days," Chancellor Angela Merkel said from Washington on Thursday night, where she met with President Joe Biden.
Streets and houses were submerged by water in some areas, while cars were overturned on soaked streets after the floods passed. Some districts were completely cut off from the outside world.
In Ahrweiler, several houses completely collapsed, drawing comparisons to the aftermath of a tsunami.
