![]() ![]() The death toll in Germany is the highest of any natural catastrophe since a deadly North Sea flood in 1962 that killed around 340 people.įloods at the Elbe river in 2002, which at the time were billed by media "once-in-a-century floods", killed 21 people in eastern Germany and more than 100 across the wider central European region. Several towns and villages were already submerged, including Pepinster near Liege, where around 10 houses partially or fully collapsed. In the town of Maaseik, on the Dutch border, the Meuse had risen beyond a retaining wall and was spilling past sandbags placed on top. It's scary," Thierry Bourgeois, 52, said in the Belgian town of Liege. Waters were receding in the southern city of Maastricht, where there was no flooding and in the town of Valkenburg, where damage was widespread, but no one was hurt.įrance sent 40 military personnel and a helicopter to Liege in Belgium to help with the flood situation, Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Twitter. Thousands of residents in the north of Limburg province in neighbouring Netherlands were ordered to leave their homes early Friday as floodwaters peaked.Įmergency services were on high alert, and authorities were also reinforcing dikes along vulnerable stretches where floodwaters continue to rise. ![]() Some 4,500 people were evacuated downstream from the Steinbachtal dam in western Germany, which had been at risk of a breach overnight, and a stretch of motorway was closed. Nursing homes had to be evacuated," a spokeswoman for the regional government of Cologne said.Īuthorities worried that further dams could overflow, spilling uncontrolled floods into communities below, and were trying to ease pressure by releasing more water. Rescue crews tried to reach residents by boat or helicopter and had to communicate via walkie-talkie. Roads in many affected areas were impassable after being washed away by the floods. ![]() Proposals by the Greens, running a distant second in polls to Merkel's conservatives, to introduce motorway speed limits to cut carbon emissions had previously drawn outrage.ĭays after the European Commission unveiled plans to make Europe the "first climate-neutral continent, Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the scale and intensity of the flooding was a clear indication of climate change and demonstrated the urgent need to act. German public broadcaster ARD said Merkel will visit Schuld, one of the worse-hit towns, on Sunday. Merkel held a video conference with Laschet who updated her on search and rescue efforts, a government spokeswoman said, adding that the chancellor plans to visit the affected areas soon. "It is a sad certainty that such extreme events will determine our day-to-day life more and more frequently in the future," Laschet said, adding that more measures were needed to fight global warming. The devastation of the floods, attributed by meteorologists to a climate-change driven shift in the jet stream that has brought inland water that once stayed at sea, could shake up an election that has until now seen little discussion of climate. ![]()
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