At least 80 people have died and hundreds more are still missing in Germany after the worst floods in decades. Heavy rains in western Europe caused rivers to overflow their banks, destroying the region.
Belgium has also reported at least 12 deaths as a result of extreme weather, for which political leaders have blamed climate change. Scientists have repeatedly warned that man-made climate change would bring about extreme rainfall.
In Germany, the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia were hit the hardest. The Netherlands has also been badly affected and there have been floods in Luxembourg and Switzerland.
In the western German district of Ahrweiler, about 1,300 people are missing, authorities say. The village of Schuld is almost completely destroyed. In the town of Erfstadt-Blessem, the flood caused a number of houses to collapse in whole or in part. Calls for help could be heard from buildings whose occupants could only be reached by boat.
Even greater rain is forecast across the region today.
Authorities say they do not know for sure how many people are missing. There is no telephone signal in most of the region, making communication impossible. But the death toll is expected to rise today and, with each passing hour, the magnitude of this catastrophe becomes increasingly clear.
About 15,000 police, soldiers and emergency service personnel are on the scene to help with the search and rescue, as helicopters picked up residents trapped on the roof tops and tanks cleared the streets of fallen trees and debris.
Source: BBC
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