Berlin (AP) - In Germany and Belgium, floods turned streams and streets into raging torrents, cars were swept away and houses collapsed, killing more than 40 people and leaving dozens missing Thursday. It was.
Flash floods occurred overnight after rivers and reservoirs breached embankments and saturated soil was no longer able to absorb water due to recent storms in parts of Western Europe.
"I am saddened by the people who lost their lives in this disaster," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Visiting Washington, Express the impact on the flood rate. "I don't know the number yet, but it will be more."
He promised that everything possible would be done to find those who were still missing, adding that "the heavy rains and floods do not reflect what happened."
According to the police, 18 people died in Ahrweiler county, 15 in Euskirchen, 3 in Rheinbach and 2 in Cologne. Belgian media reported four deaths in the country.
Among the most devastating German villages was Schuld, where several houses collapsed and dozens of people were left unexplained.
Rescue efforts were hampered by the blocking of roads in the volcanic area of โโrolling hills and small valleys, the Eifel, and the suspension of the telephone and internet. Some villages were turned into rubble because old brick and wood houses could not withstand the sudden torrents of water and often dragged trees and other debris while spitting down narrow streets.
Karl Heinz Grimm, who came to help his parents at Schuld, said he had never seen a swell in the little river Aa in such a deadly torrent.
"Tonight was like crazy," he said.
Dozens of people had to be rescued from the roofs of their houses in inflatable boats and helicopters. Germany has deployed hundreds of soldiers to help.
"Many people are dead, missing or still at risk," Rhineland-Palatinate Governor Malu Dreyer told the local council. โWe have never seen a disaster like this. It's really devastating. "
In Belgium, the river Vesdor overflowed over the embankment, churning the streets of Pepanster near Liรจge.
"Several houses have collapsed," Mayor Philip Godin told RTBF. It was unclear if anyone was able to escape unscathed.
Major highways were flooded in the southern and eastern parts of the country, and the railways said all trains had stopped.
In the 200,000 city of Liรจge, the Meuse river crossed the embankment on Thursday and the mayor asked nearby residents to move to higher ground.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Union Commission, said: โI am thinking of the families of the victims of the devastating floods in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, and of the families of those who have lost their homes. . I tweeted.
The full extent of the damage is still unknown, as many villages were blocked by floods and landslides, rendering roads impassable. A video on social media showed that cars were drifting down the street and the house was partially collapsed.
Many of the dead were found only after the floods receded.
Authorities in Rhein-Sieg county, south of Cologne, have ordered the evacuation of several villages below the Steinbachtar reservoir, as the dam threatens to collapse.
Two firefighters were killed in a rescue operation in Germany's most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia.
Governor Armin Laschet paid tribute to them and promised prompt assistance to those affected.
"We do not yet know the extent of the damage, but the victims alone will not leave the community," he said during a visit to the flooded city of Hagen.
Rachette, conservative Run to take over Merkel as prime minister In this fall's election, he said unusually intense storms and early heat waves could be associated with climate change.
Political opponents have criticized Rachette, the son of a miner, for supporting the region's coal industry and hindering the expansion of wind power during his tenure.
Stephen Ramstorff, a professor of physical oceanography at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said it is unclear whether the extreme rainfall observed in Germany was a direct result of global warming.
"But you can say that such events are becoming more frequent due to global warming," he told The Associated Press, where warmer air absorbs more water vapor and eventually said it would rain.
"Increased heavy rains and decreased light rainy days are now more evident in the observational data, especially in the latitudes of the north-central region, including Germany," Rahmstorf said.
He added that the weakening of atmospheric circulation in summer can also contribute to longer-lasting weather patterns, such as heat waves and continued rainfall.
Water levels in the Moselle and the Rhine were expected to continue to rise, but rains subsided across Germany later on Thursday.
Authorities in Falkenburg, a city in the southern Netherlands near the German-Belgian border, evacuated care facilities and the hospice overnight in a flood that turned the main street of a tourist destination into a river, they reported. Dutch media.
The Dutch government sent around 70 soldiers to south Limburg on Wednesday night to help evacuate and fill sandbags.
Some of the busiest roads in the country have been closed due to rising water levels, and the Dutch media has shown that a group of tourists has been rescued from the hotel windows with the help of an earthworks.
In northeastern France, heavy rains flooded vegetable fields, many houses and the Museum of the First World War in Romagne-sous-Montfocon. According to local fire services, firefighters have evacuated people from camps around the town of Fresnes in Uble. Bastille Day fireworks have been canceled in some small towns.
According to the local newspaper L'Est Republicain, the Ayre River has reached its highest level in 30 years in some areas.
According to the French National Meteorological Service, two months of rain fell in some areas over a two-day period, and flood warnings were issued in 10 areas. No injuries or deaths have been reported, but meteorologists warned that landslides and rains would increase on Friday.
According to broadcaster France Blue, train routes to Luxembourg were disrupted and dozens of people were evacuated by firefighters near the Luxembourg-German border and in the Marne region.
Source link More than 40 people died and dozens disappeared after the severe floods that hit Europe
