Merkel says the floods are appalling when the European death toll rises to 184, Reuters reports

By Ralph Brock and Romana Fuessel

BERCHTESGADEN / BISCHOFSWIESEN, Germany (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the floods that devastated parts of Europe on Sunday were “frightening” as the death toll in the region reached 184 as a Bavarian district suffered severe weather.

Merkel promised quick funding in recent days after visiting at least 157 record-breaking rainfall and flooding sites in Germany in the country’s worst natural disaster in nearly six decades.

“It’s scary,” he told residents of the small town of Adenau in the Rhineland-Palatinate state. “The German can hardly describe the destruction that took place.”

The catastrophe continued on Sunday when a neighborhood in Bavaria (southern Germany) killed at least one person when it was hit by floods.

The roads turned into rivers, carrying several vehicles and burying pieces of land buried under the thick mud of Berchtesgadener Land. Hundreds of rescue workers survived in the district bordering Austria.

“We weren’t prepared for that,” said Bernhard Kern, Berchtesgadener Land district administrator, who added that the situation worsened “worse” late Saturday, leaving little time for emergency services to act.

About 110 people killed in the Ahrweiler district in southern Cologne have been killed. Police say more bodies are expected to be found there as the floodwaters recede.

The European floods, which began on Wednesday, have mainly hit Germany’s Palatinate Rhineland, North Rhine-Westphalia and parts of Belgium. Entire communities have been cut off, without force or communication.

At least 46 people have been killed in North Rhine-Westphalia, and 27 in Belgium.

The German government will prepare more than 300 million euros ($ 354 million) in immediate assistance and repair billions of collapsed houses, streets and bridges, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told Bild am Sonntag.

“There’s a lot of damage and that’s clear: businesses, those who lost their homes can’t stop the losses alone.”

Economy Minister Peter Altmaier informed the paper that a short-term payment of 10,000 euros could also be made to companies affected by the floods and the COVID-19 pandemic.

POWER OUT

Scientists, who have long said climate change will lead to heavier rain showers, said it would still take several weeks to determine its role in these ongoing storms.

In Belgium, which will celebrate its national day of mourning on Tuesday, water levels were falling on Sunday and a clean-up operation was underway. The military was sent to the eastern town of Pepinster, where a dozen buildings collapsed in search of more victims.

Thousands of people have no electricity and Belgian authorities say the supply of clean drinking water is also a major concern.

Emergency services officials in the Netherlands said the situation had stabilized somewhat in the south of Limburg province, with thousands evacuated in recent days, although the north is still on high alert.

“They are firmly monitoring the dikes in the north and whether they will hold them,” Jos Teeuwen of the regional water authority said at a news conference on Sunday.

In southern Limburg, authorities remain concerned about the safety of traffic infrastructure, such as high-water roads and bridges.

The Netherlands has so far only reported damage to property caused by floods and people killed or missing.

In Hallein, an Austrian town near Salzburg, strong flood waters broke in the city center on Saturday evening when the Kothbach River erupted on its banks, but no one was injured.

They remain on alert in several areas of the province of Salzburg and the surrounding provinces, and will continue to receive rain on Sunday. The province of West Tyrol reported that in some areas the water level was at its highest since it had not been seen for more than 30 years.

Some parts of Switzerland were on flood alert, although the threat posed by some of the most dangerous water bodies has been alleviated.

($ 1 = € 0.8471)