China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Flood ’rsetsoclule
Water stands in the town center in Bad Muenstereifel, western Germany, on Sunday. Heavy rains caused mudslides and flooding in the region Days of extreme downpours in Western Europe left at least 183 people dead and dozens missing.
SCHULD, Germany — German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in a flood-ravaged region of Germany on Sunday to survey the damage and meet survivors, after days of extreme downpours in western Europe left at least 183 people dead and dozens missing.
She said the situation is “surreal” and “terrifying” and that the government will provide financial aid fast.
Merkel visited the village of Schuld in Rhineland-Palatinate state, one of the two hardest-hit regions in western Germany, where the swollen Ahr river swept away houses and left debris piled high on the streets.
At least 156 people have died in Germany’s worst flooding in living memory since Wednesday, police said, bringing the total to at least 183 deaths from the disaster in western Europe. In Rhineland-Palatinate alone, police reported more than 110 dead and 670 injured.
At least 27 people had also lost their lives in neighboring Belgium, with many others missing.
Rescue crews in both countries were sifting through rubble to find victims and survivors, often in dangerous conditions.
The historic downpours also battered Switzerland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
As the waters began to recede in Rhineland-Palatinate and neighboring North Rhine-Westphalia, concern shifted south to Germany’s Upper Bavaria region, where heavy rains inundated basements and led rivers and creeks to burst their banks late on Saturday.
There was flooding in the German-Czech border area on Saturday night, across the country from where last week’s floods hit, and in Germany’s southeastern corner and over the border in Austria.
Evacuation effort
About 130 people were evacuated in Germany’s Berchtesgaden area after the Ache river swelled. At least one person was killed. The railway line to Berchtesgaden was closed.
A flash flood swept through the nearby Austrian town of Hallein late on Saturday. Further west, parts of the town of Kufstein were flooded.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz wrote on Twitter that heavy rains and storms were causing serious damage in several parts of Austria.
Germany’s Finance Minister Olaf Scholz pledged more than 300 million euros ($354 million) in emergency aid for people who lost homes and businesses, with the Cabinet to discuss a much larger reconstruction package on Wednesday. He said officials must start setting up a rebuilding program which, based on experience from previous floodings, will be in the billions of euros.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Belgium Prime Minister Alexander De Croo visited the flooded areas of Rochefort and Pepinster together on Saturday.
“Europe is with you,” von der Leyen tweeted afterward. “We are with you in mourning and we will be with you in rebuilding.”
Belgium has declared Tuesday a day of official mourning.