Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday visited flood-ravaged areas of Germany to survey the damage and meet survivors after days of extreme rainfall in western Europe left at least 190 people dead and dozens missing.
Merkel travelled to the village of Schuld in Rhineland-Palatinate state, one of the two hardest-hit regions in western Germany where the swollen Ahr river swept away houses and left debris piled high in the streets.
The chancellor said she was overwhelmed by the “surreal, eerie” devastation she had seen. she told reporters she could almost say that the German language doesn’t have words for the destruction that has been unleashed
Merkel also pledged that a short-term relief programme would be launched by the government on Wednesday and said the devastation underscored the importance of combating climate change, saying: We “must hurry”.
At least 159 people have died since Wednesday in Germany’s worst flooding in living memory, police said in an update Sunday morning. In Rhineland-Palatinate state alone, police reported 110 dead and 670 injured.
At least 31 people have also lost their lives in neighbouring Belgium, officials said Sunday.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo visited the flooded areas of Rochefort and Pepinster together on Saturday
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