Devastated regions, more than a hundred victims and ongoing research to find the ever-increasing number of missing persons.
The toll of deadly floods in Europe has continued to evolve over the past 48 hours, killing at least 153 people, most of them in Germany.
The country is thus deploring the worst natural disaster in more than half a century.
We take a look back at the latest developments in these devastating floods.
Germany: at least 133 dead, dozens missing
West Germany is paying the heaviest price, with at least 133 dead alone, authorities said.
A toll that is likely to increase in the coming hours, while dozens of people still remain missing, especially in Rhineland-Palatinate.
"As the cellars are emptied or the water is pumped, we keep falling on the bodies of people who have left their lives in these waves, so I cannot comment on the final results ”, lamented the Minister of the Interior of Rhineland-Palatinate, Roger Lewentz.
Read also Floods in Germany: "I do not know where my neighbor is, I do not know if he still lives ..."
On Friday, a portion of the village literally collapsed on itself following a landslide near Cologne in Erfstadt.
The spectacular images of the disaster area showed a vast yawning crater into which masses of earth, brown water and debris were pouring out.
The authorities warned that several people had lost their lives there.
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Landslide, floods: bruised Germany and Belgium
Belgium: at least 20 dead, around 20 missing
Neighboring Belgium was also hard hit by these spectacular floods, killing at least 20 people and missing around 20 according to the government's latest report.
"It could be that these floods are the most catastrophic that our country has ever known," said Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, decreeing Tuesday a day of national mourning.
As the water recedes, the toll is also likely to climb.
"We will probably still find catastrophic situations", judged the mayor of Liège, Christine Defraigne.
In addition, the material damage turned out to be considerable: 21,000 inhabitants were still without electricity.
The army was deployed in four of the ten provinces of the country to take part in the relief efforts and in particular in the numerous evacuations.
"Billions of euros in damage"
The torrential rains also caused extensive damage in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland, without however causing any casualties.
"It is a unique disaster, of unprecedented magnitude," asserts Gerd Landsberg, director general of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities.
"Judging by the damage, billions of euros are at stake," he said.
In Germany, nearly a thousand soldiers were mobilized to help with relief and clearing operations.
Because now the repairs must begin: gas or telephone lines are unusable in many places, hundreds of people are homeless.
The illustration of a worrying global warming
These bad weather have placed the issue of global warming at the center of conversations, but also within the electoral campaign, which is in full swing in Germany in view of the legislative elections of September 26.
The President of the Federal Republic, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, urged, in a solemn declaration, to fight “resolutely” against global warming.
"These floods confirm what science is saying about global warming," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday in Dublin.
Clearly, a warmer atmosphere retains more water and can cause precipitation of extreme intensity. These can have particularly devastating consequences in urban areas, with poorly drained waterways and buildings in flood-prone areas. Extreme phenomena which tend to multiply as global warming progresses, have alerted many climatologists.