Direct report · The floods in Central Europe

Post

Javascript needs to be enabled in your browser for this instant report to be updated automatically.

4 tim11.13

SUMMARY

So far,

103 people have

been confirmed dead in

Germany

.

Rescue efforts are underway, many are missing and the number of dead is expected to increase, according to local authorities.

In the district of Ahrweiler, just south of Bonn, 1,300 people have not been reached.

At least

22 people

have died in

Belgium

after heavy flooding.

SVT · Julius Bengtsson · Reporter

9 min15.00

Thousands are evacuated in the Netherlands

In the city of Meerssen in the Southern Netherlands, all residents are urged to leave their homes.

This after a protective wall has broken and the city has been flooded, reports Reuters.

"Leave your home immediately and go to safety", is the rescue service's call.

Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, has called the floods in the province of Limburg a national disaster.

Hundreds of firefighters and soldiers have been dispatched to help strengthen ramparts and evacuate residents in the area.

SVT · Maja Flygt

32 min14.37

Water levels are rising in Switzerland

The river Aare flows through the Swiss capital Bern and now the water levels there are rising.

The embankments have already burst in several places, reports the BBC.

Large orange unlockable barriers have been set up to stop the river from flooding.

At the same time, there is concern about increased landslides in the country.

Many roads and railways are considered too dangerous to use and are closed.

SVT · Maja Flygt

1 tim14.22

Military disaster alert in Germany

Arne Collatz, spokesman for the German Ministry of Defense, said on Friday morning that more than 850 troops from the German military had been sent to help with the floods, reports AP.

In connection with the need increasing, even more are sent.

Italy has sent, among other things, firefighters and lifeboats to Belgium to help in the search for missing persons.

SVT · Maja Flygt

1 tim13.49

Belgium warns of travel

Everyone in the southern and eastern parts of Belgium has been warned not to travel, reports the BBC.

According to the country's crisis center, many roads are blocked and dangerous.

Thousands of people have been evacuated and more than 20,000 homes in the Walloon region lack electricity - some even lack clean water.

SVT · Maja Flygt

1 tim13.45

Can be the worst natural disaster

The damage to infrastructure and houses in Germany is large and may be the most extensive caused by a natural disaster in the country in 20 years, at least in economic terms, writes the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

An initial estimate from the insurance industry of the extent of the claims is expected as early as next week.

SVT · Julius Bengtsson · Reporter

2 tim13.33

Merkel in the United States

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is visiting US President Joe Biden in Washington DC.

At a joint press conference, she promises the government's full support for the rescue efforts, reports the BBC.

This is what she said about the situation:

"Hundreds of thousands have experienced that their everyday environment has suddenly become a disaster area. A day of fear for life and property, a day of worry and despair."

SVT · Maja Flygt

2 tim13.20

Many are missing in Ahrweiler

In the district of Ahrweiler in the German Rhineland-Palatinate, government representatives have talked about 1,300 people who could not be located, reports TT through Der Tagesspiegel.

The hope is that they have not been able to be reached because the mobile networks in the area are down.

But it could still be about many more deaths, both there and elsewhere in western Germany, where the devastation is immense after this week's downpour.

"In some areas we have not seen this much rain in 100 years," meteorologist Andreas Friedrich told CNN.

(TT)

SVT · Maja Flygt

2 tim12.51

Federal President: Affects me deeply

"In times of need, our country is strong," German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a speech on Friday, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

In the speech, he also told how touched he was by the images of the devastation in the country that have reached the public.

- Many people have lost what they have built up over a lifetime, says Steinmeier, who also expressed his participation with those who lost loved ones and relatives.

- What has affected you affects me deeply.

SVT · Julius Bengtsson · Reporter

3 tim11.46

Several dead in housing

In Sinzig in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, 12 people in a home for the disabled have died, reports the newspaper Bild.

The dead were in the living room's dormitory downstairs when it was flooded.

The building was to be evacuated when the water came in and the staff did not have time to help the residents get out.

SVT · Julius Bengtsson · Reporter