Floods in Germany and Belgium leave more than 100 dead as rescuers race to find survivors

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BERLIN – Rescuers in Germany and neighboring countries were racing to find survivors of the region’s worst floods this century, as the death toll rose to more than 100 with hundreds missing after days of torrential rain that some politicians and scientists linked to climate change.

German authorities used helicopters and drones to locate survivors who fled to rooftops and higher ground without being able to collect any of their belongings when flash floods swept through homes, turning streets into rivers, washing away cars and destroying homes.

The German military joined efforts to support thousands of rescue workers amid a shortage of helicopters and other equipment after hundreds of homes collapsed or were badly damaged in the western states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. At least 93 people have been killed in Germany, according to local authorities on Friday.

About 1,300 people are currently missing in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, a town 35 miles south of Cologne, according to local authorities, although this may be due in part to mobile phone outages in parts of the region.

A photo posted by the authorities in Rhein-Erft shows the extent of the flooding. Photo: rhein-erft-kreis/EPA/Shutterstock Wreckage in Verviers, Belgium on Friday. Photo: Yves Hermann/Reuters

Thousands of survivors are staying in schools, hotels and gyms amid a warning not to return to their homes even if the waters calm down due to the danger of collapsed foundations after days of flooding, Rhineland-Palatinate premier Malo Dreyer said in a radio interview Friday. . Cities in the region are known for their medieval urban core of half-timbered dwellings.

“I am shocked by the disaster that has caused so many people to suffer in the flooded areas. My condolences to the relatives of the dead and missing persons. I thank from my heart the many tireless helpers and rescue services,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a tweet posted by her spokesperson on Thursday.

Local authorities said similar scenes were taking place in southern Belgium, where at least 14 people were killed and many evacuated in the worst-affected areas of the Wallonia region. Across the border in the Dutch province of Limburg, rescuers are evacuating flood-affected areas.

Forecasters blamed the flooding on a rare summer cyclone that lingered over flooded areas for several days. They said changes in global weather patterns meant the storm remained centered over Europe rather than drifting east.

Andreas Marx, a climate researcher at the Helmholtz Center, said the jet stream, a westward-bound wind current over the North Atlantic, has begun to meander over Western Europe in recent years, creating pockets of weather that can briefly capture storms over the region. Environmental research in Germany.

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said there was no doubt that the disaster was linked to climate change, and called for more policy action to cut emissions in the future.

Two firefighters died Thursday while rescuing people trapped by floods, according to authorities in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Rainfall has decreased in the area since Thursday, but infrastructure remains severely affected.

Survivors told German television how the floods robbed all of their belongings and, in some cases, swept away their entire homes. Parts of the Rhine, a major European waterway that swelled over its banks, remained closed to traffic.

Damaged cars piled up on a street in Bad Neuenaer-Arueller, Germany, on Friday. Photo: friedemann vogel/EPA/Shutterstock People passed sandbags in Irvinestadt, Germany, on Friday. Photo: Thelo Schmuelgen/Reuters

The floods coincide with a bout of extreme heat and drought in parts of the United States and Europe, and some scientists say there is evidence that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent as climate change progresses.

An October 2020 report from the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction found that the number of major natural disasters from 2000 to 2019 increased by 74.5% compared to 1980-1999, with a large part of the difference due to weather. – Related events such as floods, storms and droughts.

While not all extreme weather events can be explained by climate change, many scientists have warned that global warming may lead to more unpredictable weather patterns and an increased incidence of extreme events such as this year’s heat wave in the western United States, According to Mr. Marx. Helmholtz Center researcher.

Mr. Marx noted that Germany has experienced similar disasters in the past fifteen years and that it is difficult to establish a clear link between individual events and global climate change.

“But it’s also true that events like this are expected with climate change: a hotter Earth’s surface means more water in the atmosphere, and that can lead to heavy rains and we’re seeing this happening now,” Mr Marks, who specializes in drought research.

He said there is clear evidence that regularly occurring periods of intense rain become wetter, while periods of extreme drought become drier due to climate change.

A police car in downtown Kirchheim, Germany. Photo: Jonas Gittler/The Associated Press

– Sha Hwa contributed to this article.

Write to Bojan Pancevski at [email protected]

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