Torrential rains and floods have left nine dead and dozens missing in western Germany where hundreds of firefighters are mobilized Thursday to rescue residents of several affected localities.

And the toll could increase.

Thus in the municipality of Schuld, south of Bonn, where six houses along the river have collapsed, the police count between 50 and 60 missing.

Other houses threaten to collapse.

The bad weather left "four dead in the district of Ahrweiler, died because of the weather or as a result of these disasters," said a spokesman for the Koblenz police.

Many people are missing in the district.

Locals have been urged to send police videos and photos that could provide clues about their missing loved ones.

#BREAKING: At least four dead, 50 to 60 others unaccounted for after heavy rain causes multiple homes to collapse in western Germany's Ahrweiler districtpic.twitter.com/SiJ9HBWabT

- IEN (@BreakingIEN) July 15, 2021

Further north, in the region of North Rhine-Westphalia, two firefighters died in intervention, while two men were drowned in their flooded cellar.


In this region, the most populous in Germany, 135,000 homes are without electricity.

Due to a lack of power, the authorities undertook to evacuate the nearly 500 patients from the Leverkusen clinic.

A drowned firefighter in intervention

The west of Germany was hit by torrential rains that swelled rivers, tore up trees, flooded roads and homes.

Help is trying to evacuate the victims, many of whom have taken refuge on the roofs of houses.

But many accesses are blocked, complicating operations.

Authorities called on residents to stay at home if possible and "move upstairs if necessary."

The leader of the Rhineland-Palatinate region, Malu Dreyer said she was "anxious with all those who are in danger".

Footage taken this early morning in Bad Neuenahr / Ahrweiler near the river Ahr #hochwasser #badneuenahr #flutwelle pic.twitter.com/HlufProuBt

- Malte Susen (@maltesusen) July 15, 2021

The regions of Saarland, former Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (northeast) have been placed on thunderstorm alert.

Tuesday, it was Bavaria, in the south of the country, which had been badly affected, the state of natural disaster having even been declared in the district of Hof, due to flooded roads.

Neighboring the most affected German regions, Belgium and Luxembourg are also affected by bad weather.

Luxembourg launched the “bad weather” plan following heavy rainfall.

"Many" houses are flooded and "more livable" across the country and their inhabitants have been evacuated, according to the authorities.

Belgium has been experiencing heavy rains for several days which brought out of their beds a large number of rivers in the French-speaking region of Wallonia, causing flooding on Thursday.

The provinces of Liège and Namur were particularly affected, the seaside resort of Spa being completely invaded by water.

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