Recent storms in western Europe caused rivers and reservoirs to burst, creating flash floods overnight. This was after the soil had absorbed all of the water.
“I mourn for those who lost their lives in the disaster,” Angela Merkel, German Chancellor, said while visiting Washington. She expressed shock at the extent of the flooding. We don’t yet know the exact number. It will be many, however.
She promised that all would be done to locate those still missing and added: “Heavy rain and flooding don’t capture what actually happened.”
Eight people were killed in floods according to authorities in Euskirchen, western Germany. The county’s southwest corner, Cologne, was affected by internet and phone outages that hampered rescue operations.
Police reported that 18 people were killed in Ahrweiler, south of Euskirchen. After several homes fell in the Eifel volcanic region, which is characterized by rolling hills and small valleys, up to 70 people are reported missing.
Many villages were destroyed by the water-driven floodwaters. Old brick and timber homes couldn’t withstand it.
Many people were rescued from their homes by helicopters and inflatable boats. Germany sent hundreds of soldiers to help.
Malu Dreyer (the governor of Rhineland-Palatinate), stated that there were many people who have died, some people are missing, and there is still danger. “We have never witnessed such a catastrophe. It is truly devastating.
The Vesdre River in Belgium overflowed its banks, sending water churning through Pepinster, near Liege.
Philippe Godin, Mayor of Paris, told RTBF network that several homes had collapsed. It wasn’t clear if everyone was able to flee the disaster.
Belgian media reported that four people died in eastern Verviers. Major roads were damaged in the southern and eastern regions of the country. The railway reported that all trains had been halted.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of European Union Commission, promised to help. She tweeted: “My thoughts and prayers are with the families affected by the floods in Belgium and Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, and all those who have lost homes.”
It was not clear how much damage had been done, as many villages were cut off by flooding and landslides which made it impossible to travel. Social media videos showed houses partially falling and cars drifting down streets.
Floodwaters receded and many of the victims were only found later. Police say that four victims died in separate incidents when their basements in Cologne, Kamen, and Wuppertal were flooded.
Fearing that a dam might burst, authorities in Rhine-Sieg south of Cologne ordered several villages to be evacuated below the Steinbachtal reservoir.
Two firefighters were killed in rescue operations in North-Rhine Westphalia (Germany’s most populous).
Gov. Armin Laschet made a special tribute and promised to provide swift assistance for the affected.
“We don’t know how much damage has been done yet, but we won’t leave the communities and the people affected unaffected,” he stated during a visit in Hagen, the flood-hit town.
Laschet is a conservative running to succeed Merkel in the election for chancellor this fall. He suggested that climate change could be responsible for unusually heavy storms, and an earlier heat wave.
Opponents of Laschet’s tenure have criticised him as a son of a miner for supporting the region’s coal industry and preventing the expansion of wind power.
Stefan Rahmstorf is a professor of ocean Physics at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. He said that it was not clear if the extreme rainfall in Germany was due to planetary warming.
He stated that “but one can say that such events are becoming increasingly frequent due to global warming”, The Associated Press reported. He noted that warmer air can absorb greater water vapor, which eventually falls as rain.
Rahmstorf stated that the observational data clearly shows an increase in heavy rain and decreases in days with low rain, particularly in the mid-northern hemispheres, including Germany.
He also suggested that the weakening in the summer circulation of our atmosphere could play a part in causing long-lasting weather patterns like heat waves and continuous rain.
Later Thursday, rains eased across Germany. However, water levels in the Mosel- and Rhine rivers continued to rise.
The Dutch media reported that authorities in Valkenburg, a southern Dutch town, evacuated a hospital and a hospice after flooding caused by the floods turned the main street of the tourist resort into a river.
About 70 Dutch troops were sent to Limburg’s southern province late Wednesday night to assist with evacuations, and to fill sandbags.
One section of the country’s busiest highways was shut down due to rising waters. Dutch media featured a group of tourists being pulled from their hotel windows by an earthmover.
Heavy rains in northeastern France flooded many homes, vegetable fields, and a World War I museum, Romagne-sous-Montfaucon. According to the local firefighter agency, firefighters evacuated residents from the Fresnes-en Woevre campgrounds. Some small towns cancelled Bastille Day fireworks.
According to L’Est Republicain, the Aire River reached its highest level in 30 years in certain areas.
According to the French national meteor service, there has been an equivalent of two months’ worth of rain in certain areas in two days. Flood warnings have been issued for 10 regions. Although no injuries or deaths were reported, forecasters warned that there would be more rain and mudslides on Friday.
According to France Bleu, a train route from Luxembourg to Germany was blocked and firefighters evacuated many people in the Marne area and near the border with Luxembourg.
