Share
July 16, 2021 "I am afraid that we will see the full extent of this tragedy only in the next few days".
Chancellor Angela Merkel from Washington said this about the devastating floods that hit Germany.
The government "will not leave you alone in this difficult and terrible time", he added, ensuring aid for relief and reconstruction.
At least 59 people were killed by the wave of bad weather and hundreds are still missing, reports the BBC.
In the most affected region, Rhineland-Palatinate, 15,000 soldiers and rescuers are at work, while helicopters continue to rescue residents stranded on rooftops.
With 59 confirmed victims, the authorities report very many missing in the affected regions: in particular there are 1300 people in the Ahrweiler region of whom there is no news, possibly due to the suspension of cell phone communications, reports the Die Welt website. Electricity supplies are also interrupted for at least 165 thousand people.
Hundreds of people rescued by boat Hundreds of people were taken and rescued from their homes by boat in the Kordel area, one of the centers particularly affected by the effect of the floods that are causing victims and damage in Germany. On the spot there would be no deaths injured and missing, according to the local police, consulted by Bild. Kordel is located on the River Kyll, a tributary of the Moselle. The army also intervened for relief efforts with 500 soldiers in six districts. One hundred refugees had to leave, precisely because of the floods, a reception center in a school building in Erkrath near Duesseldorf. According to the weather forecast, heavy rains will continue to fall in the next few hours, in the region as well as in the Laender of the Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate.