Officials in western Germany Thursday said severe flooding overnight killed more than 30 people, with of dozens of others missing after torrential rains swept through parts of western Europe.
German police say four people died and some 30 were missing around the wine-growing hub of Ahrweiler county, southwest of Bonn, after the Ahr river, which flows into the Rhine, burst its banks. They say about 50 were stranded on roofs, and more houses were at risk of collapse.
Aerial video of the area shows houses swept away as well as roads and bridges. In Schuld, in southern Ahrweiler county, police say six houses collapsed overnight. A photo, taken with a drone, shows the devastation caused by the flooding of the Ahr River in the Eifel village of Schuld, western Germany, Thursday, July 15, 2021. At least eight people have died and dozens of people are missing in Germany after…To the northwest, authorities in Euskirchen said that eight deaths had been reported there in connection with the floods.Rescue operations were hampered by the fact that phone and internet connections were down in part of the region. Officials say the flooding also disrupted rail lines and shipping on the Rhine.
Deaths and damage were also reported in neighboring Belgium and the Netherlands.North Rhine-Westphalia premier Armin Laschet visited the area Thursday and told reporters that officials do not know exactly how many victims there are from the flooding. Laschet is the conservative candidate running to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel.Merkel, who is in the United States for meetings with U.S. President Joe Biden, said in a statement she was shocked by the extent of the damage and loss of life, and expressed her sympathies to the families of those killed or missing.
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