“Floods of historic proportions,” said North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Armin Lasset. Both the federal government and the Commission believe that the cause of the floods in Germany is related to climate change.
The dead in Rheinland-Pfalz include 12 residents of a disability center. Center staff failed to send everyone to the second floor after the first floor flooded.
“I am shocked by the scale of the disaster,” said German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. “In these difficult times, the country must be united.”
The rains stopped yesterday in some areas, but the search for trapped people has continued in the town of Erfstad in Westphalia. Dozens of people lost their lives due to the collapse of buildings and roads in this city due to the landslide.
On the flooded outskirts of Erag in the city of Trier, authorities allowed residents to enter their homes to get some of the necessary items. “It was tragic not to help people.” To the right and left, houses were collapsing, ”said Frank Till, a villager.
Meanwhile, 1,300 people are still missing. In Belgium, the death toll has risen to 20, following floods that have swept through the streets of historic cities like Liège.
Water levels in the Meuse and Rhein rivers have reached record levels, surpassing levels since the 1993 and 1995 floods. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has declared a state of emergency in the southern province of Limburg.
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said many people had lost everything due to the flood, “even the clothes they were wearing”, and promised to provide all the help needed.
