The floods in Western Europe: Residents began to gradually return to their homes - and found destruction and desolation - Walla! news

2021-07-17T12:47:11.850Z

In one of the biggest disasters to hit the region in decades, the death toll in Germany and Belgium has risen to more than 150. Hundreds more were missing, roads were blocked, many areas were left without electricity and telephone lines collapsed. In the Netherlands and Switzerland rivers overflowed

news
World news
Europe

Floods in Western Europe: Residents began to gradually return to their homes - and found destruction and desolation

In one of the biggest disasters to hit the region in decades, the death toll in Germany and Belgium has risen to more than 150.

Hundreds more were missing, roads were blocked, many areas were left without electricity and telephone lines collapsed.

In the Netherlands and Switzerland rivers overflowed

"Houses collapsed, we were lucky": The death toll from floods in Western Europe rose to more than 125

To the full article

Ruins in the town of Shuld (Photo: Reuters)

After several stormy days, today the water began to recede, and officials fear that more bodies will be found in the vehicles that were swept away.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is expected to visit the town of Arpstadt near Cologne, where the land collapsed yesterday in the midst of rescue efforts and caused houses to collapse.

Despite the fear that residents did not manage to escape and were buried under the rubble, no casualties were reported.

Residents who fled to the affected areas gradually began to return to their homes, finding signs of destruction and wilderness.

Apart from Germany and Belgium, areas in the south of the Netherlands were also badly damaged by the floods.

In Switzerland, rivers and lakes overflowed as a result of heavy rains, and police in Lucerne closed pedestrian bridges over the Royce River.

Road flooded following floods in Germany (Photo: Reuters)

The storms brought climate change back to the center of Germany's election campaign in September, which marks the end of Merkel's 16 years in office and the transfer of the reins.

"Germany must prepare much better for the future," Interior Minister Horst Zyhofer said, adding that "this extreme weather is the result of climate change."