Posted on 07/15/21
| News Source: i24
Tens of people are missing, as helicopters from several states rescue stranded residents from building tops
Severe flooding in parts of Germany and Belgium has wreaked havoc this week and continued Thursday after raging torrents swept away cars and caused some buildings to collapse.
While the numbers of dead and missing are frequently updated, so far 19 people are known to have died in Germany and dozens more are missing.
Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) states were the worst hit by the unusually heavy rainfall, which has caused rivers to burst their banks and threatens to bring down further homes, reported AFP.
"The storms hit our state hard," Rhineland-Palatinate Premier Malu Dreyer tweeted.
Authorities have declared an emergency in the region after days of heavy rainfall that also affected large parts of western and central Germany, as well as neighboring countries, causing widespread damage, according to the Associated Press (AP).
The dangerously high water levels were not merely confined to Germany; Belgium, France, and the Netherlands also experienced severe flooding.
Indeed, the French weather service said that the equivalent of two months rainfall had fallen in some areas over the last day or two. With the ground already saturated and the forecast for more heavy downpours, the service issued flood warnings for 10 regions in France.