German news outlet Deutsche Welle reports the floods killed at least 165 people in western Germany alone, with additional fatalities in neighboring countries including Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Nadine Schmidt and Frederik Pleitgen reported from Berlin Barbara Wojazer reported from Paris Jeevan Ravindran wrote in London.Churning, brown floodwaters tore through Germany and parts of Western Europe last week when rivers overflowed their banks after days of torrential rainfall. There could be storms, hailstones or heavy rain for a short time, but we won’t see two days of continuous rain.” “The severe weather will be local and short term, like a normal summer thunderstorm. “Some heavy rains and thunderstorms are expected to hit western Germany over the weekend, particularly on Saturday. However, under no circumstances should we see flash floods we have seen and experienced a week ago,” Friedrich told CNN on Thursday. German weather service spokesman Andreas Friedrich, who told CNN a week ago that Germany had “not seen this much rainfall in 100 years” in parts of western Germany, warned that more rain is forecast in some of the flood-ridden areas this weekend. However, tens of thousands of people still had to be evacuated. In the Netherlands, which has recorded no fatalities, an excellent water management system and better preparation by officials meant the country was able to deal with the floods much better than its German and Belgian neighbors. China OUT (Photo by STR / AFP) / China OUT (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images) STR/AFP/Getty Imagesĭeath toll rises as passengers recount horror of China subway floods TOPSHOT - This aerial photo taken on Jshow a damaged bridge following heavy rains which caused severe flooding in Gongyi in China's central Henan province. Authorities in Upper Bavaria told CNN Monday that at least one person died following torrential rainfalls over the weekend. Max Wilmes, police spokesman in Cologne told CNN Thursday that at least three people in the district of Euskirchen remain unaccounted for.
The state premier, Armin Laschet, who is also the Conservatives’ candidate to succeed Merkel in the upcoming federal election, said the floods were “a catastrophe of historic proportion” for the state, and called on the world to speed up its efforts to both fight and adapt to climate change. The ministry revised the number down from previously 48 deaths to 47 deaths on Thursday. On a visit to the state on Sunday, German chancellor Angela Merkel said the devastation was “surreal,” adding: “I can almost say that the German language doesn’t have words for the devastation.”Īt least 47 people have died in Germany’s most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia, according to a statement by the Interior Ministry.
Scientists are worried by how fast the climate crisis has amplified extreme weather (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP) (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP via Getty Images) Sebastien Bozon/AFP/Getty Images Rescue workers scrambled on July 17 to find survivors and victims of the devastation wreaked by the worst floods to hit western Europe in living memory, which have already left more than 150 people dead and dozens more missing. TOPSHOT - Soldiers of the German armed forces Bundeswehr search for flood victims in submerged vehicles on the federal highway B265 in Erftstadt, western Germany, on July 17, 2021, after heavy rains hit parts of the country, causing widespread flooding and major damage.
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