Germany: aftermath of the “biblical flood”

The scale of destruction in Germany due to bad weather and floods is colossal, more than 133 people died, about 1300 are missing. It is the largest natural disaster since World War II.

According to Euronews, 90 people have died, according to the Koblenz police, in the Rhineland-Palatinate region, one of the hardest hit. The death toll in North Rhine-Westphalia has risen to 43. The number of victims may increase, says Rhineland-Palatinate Interior Minister Roger Levenz:

“As we pump water and empty the basements, we find human corpses. I cannot say what the final results will be. Many are missing, including the elderly. Some of them did not have time to get out of bed and go up to the second floor, everything happened so quickly. “

Thousands of residents in the affected regions have been forced to flee their homes due to flooding and destruction. More than 102 thousand people are left without electricity, entire areas without gas. The water level is still high, but is gradually declining. The relevant services have begun to clear the rubble and restore work.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel today to the Rhineland-Palatinate federal state, which has suffered the most from
catastrophic floods
… On Friday, the Ministry of Defense imposed a state of emergency in the west of the country, giving the military unrestricted power to act as it sees fit, the Tagesschau news portal reported.

The Financial Office of North Rhine-Westphalia has issued a decree on the provision of assistance to citizens and businesses. Lutz Linenkämper, the state finance minister, says:

Thanks to the measures outlined in the Natural Disaster Ordinance, we can quickly and without unnecessary bureaucracy provide assistance where it is urgently needed. Immediate support for affected citizens is our top priority.

Gert Landsberg, CEO of the German Association of Municipalities and Communities, says:

“This is an unprecedented disaster. Judging by the losses, we are talking about billions of euros. “

Heavy rains have been falling in western Germany since Monday. Rivers Ar, Moselle and several other small tributaries of the Rhine overflowed the banks. The main blow of the elements fell on the lands of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. Stefan Ramstorf, professor of ocean physics at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, says it is still unclear if rains in West Germany are related to global warming: “But we can say that such events are increasingly happening due to the greenhouse effect.”

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