Europe floods: Death toll over 115 as rescues continue

[mountaineer]

Europe floods: Death toll over 115 as rescues continue
By FRANK JORDANS
8 minutes ago
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — At least 115 people have died in devastating floods across parts of western Germany and Belgium, officials said Friday, as search and rescue operations continued for hundreds more still unaccounted for or in danger.

Authorities in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate said 60 people had died there, including 12 residents of an assisted living facility for people with disabilities in the town of Sinzig who were surprised by a sudden rush of water from the nearby river Ahr. In neighboring North Rhine-Westphalia state officials put the death toll at 43, but warned that the figure could increase.  ...

Authorities said late Thursday that about 1,300 people in Germany were listed as missing, but they cautioned that the high number could be due to duplicated reports and difficulties reaching people because of disrupted roads and phone service.  ...

 Belgian Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden told VRT network Friday that the country’s official confirmed death toll has grown to 18. The number of missing is estimated at 19.

Water levels on the Meuse river that runs from Belgium into the Netherlands remains critical, and several dikes are at risk of collapsing, Verlinden said. Authorities in the southern Dutch town of Venlo evacuated some 200 hospital patients due to the looming threat of flooding from the river.  ...

Full story at Associated Press


An interactive map shows the extent of the flooding in western Germany


The Scotsman via MSN

[mystery-ak]

European flooding leaves at least 100 dead and 1,300 still missing
John Sexton Jul 16, 2021 1:20 PM ET



There has been record rainfall in Germany and Belgium causing rivers there to flood into residential areas. At present the death toll is 120 but another 1,300 people are still missing.

    Entire villages have been destroyed, and officials in the western German district of Ahrweiler say up to 1,300 people are unaccounted for.

    Gregor Jericho, a resident of Rheinbach in North Rhine-Westphalia, told the BBC: “It’s a very sad scene. Streets, bridges and some buildings are destroyed. There’s garbage everywhere.

    “Parts of buildings are in the road, people are sitting and crying. It’s so sad. People have lost their homes, their cars are in fields flooded. My city looks like a battle has taken place.”

    In the same town, Ansgar Rehbein told Reuters he saw the river’s water level rising so rapidly that he had to immediately get out of his house.

    “Once the river started overflowing and the water came down from the hillside, it was a matter of two minutes before the courtyard was flooded with waist-high water,” he told the news agency.

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https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2021/07/16/european-flooding-leaves-at-least-100-dead-and-1300-still-missing-n402651