VIDEO: At least 126 dead in Europe floods, 1,300 still missing
- 16 Jul 2021
Gulf Today Report
At least 126 people were killed in severe storms and floods that struck part of Germany and Belgium, according to a new toll prepared by local authorities, on Friday.
The German emergency teams are still searching for hundreds of missing people after the worst floods that caused dozens of deaths.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, from Washington, where she met President Joe Biden, expressed her fear "that we will not be able to know the true extent of the disaster until the coming days.
The death toll in Germany has risen to at least 103.Germany's most read daily newspaper, Bild, headlined its front page "Floods of Death" after heavy rain fell in several regions of the country.
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Neighbouring Belgium counted at least 23 dead, while Luxembourg and the Netherlands were badly affected by the floods, and thousands were evacuated in the city of Maastricht.
But the death toll in Germany was the highest, at 103 deaths, and is likely to rise with large numbers of people still missing in the hardest-hit states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate.
Local authorities told the newspaper that about 1,300 people were missing in the affected Ahrweiler region in Rhineland-Palatinate.
We think there are still 40, 50 or 60 people missing. If you haven't heard it for a long time... you have to fear the worst," Regional Interior Minister Roger Lofitz told EWR radio.
"Most likely, the number of casualties will continue to rise in the coming days," he added.
Streets, submerged houses, overturned cars and uprooted trees can be seen in all the sites affected by the floods, while some areas were cut off from the outside world.
In Arweiler, many houses collapsed completely, leaving the impression that a tsunami had hit the city.
The city center, which is usually neat and tidy, looks like a ruined square.
"My heart is with all those who lost their loved ones in this disaster are concerned about the fate of people who are still missing," Merkel told reporters in Washington.
She explained that her government would not leave those affected "alone in their suffering," adding that it was "doing all it can to help them in their plight.
Looking at her flooded garden from her balcony, Annemarie Muller, 65, said her hometown of Maine was not prepared for this disaster.
An employee walks across the flooded yard of a construction company in Rummenohl, Germany, on Wednesday. AP
She added: “Where did all this rain come from? It is madness.”
In Belgium, five people are still missing, and the army has been sent to four of the country's 10 provinces to assist in rescue and evacuation operations.
Storms have brought climate change back to the center of Germany's election campaign ahead of elections scheduled for September 26, which will end Merkel's 16 years in power.
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said Germany "must be better prepared" for the future, adding, "This extreme weather is the result of climate change.”