On July 16, 2021, in the Ahrweiler district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, severe rainstorms and flash floods hit the flood-stricken areas in the western states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia.
Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
- More than 100 people were killed in floods in Europe.
- Germany has been hit hardest.
- Several others are worried about losing their lives in the landslide.
On Friday, the death toll from devastating floods in Europe soared to at least 108 people, most of which occurred in western Germany, where emergency rescuers are frantically searching for missing persons.
To make matters worse, the landslide caused by flooding in northern Germany on Friday may have caused several deaths.
Hundreds of people in the country are unaccounted for, while the death toll in Belgium has jumped to 15, and more than 21,000 people have lost power in one area.
Luxembourg and the Netherlands were also hit by heavy rains, flooding many areas and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people from Maastricht.
But Germany has been the hardest hit, and unsuspecting residents were completely caught off guard by the torrent that Germany’s best-selling daily photo newspaper called the “death flood”.
“I worry that we will only see the full scope of this disaster in the next few days,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a meeting with President Joe Biden in Washington on Thursday night.
Streets and houses in some areas were flooded. After the flood, cars overturned on the wet streets. Some areas are completely isolated from the outside world.
In Ahrweiler, several houses completely collapsed, reminiscent of the aftermath of the tsunami.
Yuskirchen, one of the worst-hit towns in the north, has confirmed that at least 24 people have died.
Merkel told reporters in Washington: “I express my sympathy and sympathy for all those who have lost their loved ones in this disaster or are still worried about the fate of missing persons.”
To make matters worse, a nearby dam is still at risk of giving way.
Authorities said on Friday that the number of casualties in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) has reached 43, bringing the national death toll to at least 93.
The death toll in Germany is likely to rise because there are still a large number of people missing in the worst-hit states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate.
In the devastated Ahrweiler region of Rhineland-Palatinate, about 1,300 people are missing, although local authorities told Bild that the large number may be due to damage to the telephone network.
Regional Interior Minister Roger Levents told the local media that as many as 60 people are believed to be missing, “when you haven’t heard from people for so long…you have to be afraid of the worst.”
He added: “The number of victims may continue to rise in the next few days.”
Local officials said on Friday that a landslide occurred in Erftstadt-Blessem, North Rhine-Westphalia, causing several deaths and missing persons.
Local authorities in Cologne said on Twitter: “Most houses were washed away by water and some collapsed,” and a local government spokesperson told AFP that there were “confirmed” deaths.
Gerd Landsberg, head of the German Towns Association, said the losses could reach “billions of euros.”
Winfied Koeller, a resident of Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia, told public radio station WDR that after being rescued from a car by firefighters, he “never experienced anything like this in his life.”
Also in Hagen, Sebastian Kiefer is helping with sandbags in front of a local restaurant. “It’s crazy when you think about the power behind the water,” he told WDR.
Konstantin Hartmann from the village of Roetgen-Mulartshuette in the Eifel region told the broadcaster that his barn had been completely destroyed. “It’s all ruined there. No one helps us, no one.”
In Belgium, the army has been sent to four of the country’s 10 provinces to help rescue and evacuate.
The president of the Wallonia region, Elio Dirupo, warned that the swelling Meuse River “would be very dangerous for Liège,” a city with a population of 200,000 nearby.
Before the September 26 polls marked the end of Merkel’s 16 years in power, severe storms brought climate change back to the center of the German election campaign.
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer stated that Germany “must be better prepared” in the future, adding that “this extreme weather is the result of climate change”.
Since a warmer atmosphere can hold more water, climate change will increase the risk and intensity of floods caused by extreme rainfall.
In urban areas with poor drainage and buildings located in flooded areas, damage can be severe.
After the flood, political candidates quickly made comments.
The Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia Armin Laschet called for “speeding up” global efforts to address climate change, emphasizing the link between global warming and extreme weather.
