In Germany, the number of victims of severe flooding is growing. There are about 60 of them.
The main blow of the elements fell on the western part of the country – the lands of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. Due to heavy rains, tributaries of the Rhine and other small rivers flooded the banks, flooding the surrounding settlements.
Rescuers are looking for several dozen residents of the village of Schuld in the Ahrweiler district. There, unable to withstand the pressure of water, several houses collapsed.
Due to the flood and landslides, a number of settlements were cut off from the outside world.
“This is a disaster. I am a firefighter with 50 years of experience. I have never seen anything like it,” the man says.
“We took refuge on the top floor. Everything happened very quickly. It was too late to do something, look for it, save it,” says a local resident.
Over the past 24 hours, Belgium has received more than a monthly norm of precipitation. The Walloon region has been hit hard by floods. Killed – at least 6 people. There are dozens of missing persons. The water level in the Meuse River has reached a critical level. The authorities of Liege urged the townspeople living near the embankment to urgently leave their homes and go to the hills.
“I am angry with the municipality. The drains are not cleared, firefighters, rescuers do not go on time. Many people are locked in their houses down there. Not even a single boat was sent for the elderly,” the woman complains.
The disaster affected the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France. Many scientists associate the record amount of precipitation in the region with global warming. The extent of the damage remains to be assessed, but it is already clear that this is the most catastrophic flood in Europe in the last 20 years.