Jul 16,2021:More than 60 people have died and dozens were missing as heavy flooding in Germany and Belgium turned streams and streets into raging torrents that swept away cars and caused houses to collapse.
“I grieve for those who have lost their lives in this disaster,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday during a visit to Washington, expressing shock at the scope of the flooding. “We still don’t know the number. But it will be many.”
She pledged that everything would be done to find those still missing, adding: “’Heavy rain and flooding’ doesn’t capture what happened.”
German authorities said late that at least 58 people had likely died, an increase on the earlier toll of 45 dead.
The interior ministry in North Rhine-Westphalia state tallied four more bodies recovered, taking the region’s toll to “at least 30” while neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate said nine more deaths were likely on top of 19 already reported.
Separately, Belgian media reported eight deaths in that country.
Among the worst-hit German villages was Schuld, where several homes collapsed and dozens of people remained unaccounted for.
Rescue operations were hampered by blocked roads and phone and internet outages across the Eifel, a volcanic region of rolling hills and small valleys. Some villages were reduced to rubble as old brick and timber houses couldn’t withstand the sudden rush of water, often carrying trees and other debris as it gushed through narrow streets.
