Europe braces for more misery after floods that have killed at least 180 move south
Deadly flooding in Europe spread further south yesterday, prolonging the misery of a disaster that has killed more than 180 people.
Record rainfall battered parts of Bavaria, a German state on the border with Austria, causing flash floods that killed at least one person.
In Austria, the historic town centre of Hallein was under water and emergency workers were on high alert for flooding in the Salzburg and Tyrol regions.
Further north, rescuers expect to find more bodies in parts of Germany that bore the brunt of the devastation.
As she visited one of the stricken areas yesterday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel described the flooding as terrifying.
“It is a surreal, eerie situation,” she said. “The German language can barely describe the devastation that’s taken place.”
More than 150 people died in western Germany in the past five days.
Dozens more were killed in neighbouring Belgium.
Rescue crews in both countries were sifting through rubble in dangerous conditions to find victims and survivors.
The floods disrupted communications across two German
states, making it harder to account for missing people.
The authorities were working to restore gas, electricity and telephone services.
Damaged buildings were assessed, but some will have to be demolished.
Police sent divers to recover bodies that were swept away in the torrents.
In some areas, soldiers used armoured vehicles to clear the debris.
A similar clean-up was under way in Belgium where a dozen buildings collapsed in the town of Pepinster and some homes were left without electricity.
The authorities are concerned about the supply of drinking water in Belgium, which will hold a national day of mourning tomorrow. Tens of thousands of people who were taken to safety in the Netherlands could be allowed to return home after dykes are inspected.
Extreme rainfall also battered Luxembourg and Switzerland, where parts of the country remained on flood alert yesterday.
The floods have become an election issue two months before Germany goes to the polls, with climate change a central topic in the campaign.
Scientists believe that climate change increases the risk of extreme weather, but determining its role in the recent rainfall will take time.