BERLIN (AP) – At least 100 people have died in devastating floods across parts of western Germany and Belgium, officials said Friday, as rescue operations and the search for hundreds still unaccounted for continued.
Authorities in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate said 50 people had died there, including at least nine residents of an assisted living facility for people with disabilities. In neighboring North Rhine-Westphalia state officials put the death toll at 43, but warned that the figure could rise further.
Rescuers were rushing Friday to help people trapped in their homes in the town of Erftstadt, southwest of Cologne. Regional authorities said several people had died after their houses collapsed due to subsidence, and aerial pictures showed what appeared to be a massive sinkhole.
A Belgian army vehicle is overturned in a ditch following heavy rains and floods near the town of Rochefort on July 16, 2021. – The death toll in Belgium has jumped to 15 with more than 21,000 people left without electricity in one region. The death toll from devastating floods in Europe soared to at least 108 on July 16, 2021, most in western Germany where emergency responders were frantically searching for missing people. (Photo by John THYS / AFP) (Photo by JOHN THYS/AFP via Getty Images)
“We managed to get 50 people out of their houses last night,” said Frank Rock, the head of the county administration. “We know of 15 people who still need to be rescued.”
Speaking to German broadcaster n-tv, Rock said that authorities had no precise number yet for how many had died.
“One has to assume that under the circumstances some people didn’t manage to escape,” he said.
Authorities said late Thursday that about 1,300 people in Germany were still listed missing, but cautioned that the high figure could be due to duplication of data and difficulties reaching people because of disrupted roads and phone connections.
In a provisional tally, the Belgian death toll rose to 12, with 5 people still missing, local authorities and media report early Friday.
TOPSHOT – A picture taken on July 15, 2021 shows a view of a flooded street in the Belgian city of Verviers, near Liege, after heavy rains and floods lashed western Europe. – The provincial disaster plan has been declared in Liege, Luxembourg and Namur provinces after large amounts of rainfall. Water in several rivers has reached alarming levels. – Belgium OUT (Photo by ANTHONY DEHEZ / BELGA / AFP) / Belgium OUT (Photo by ANTHONY DEHEZ/BELGA/AFP via Getty Images)
TOPSHOT – A damaged car and bicycles are pictured in a muddy street in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, western Germany, on July 15, 2021. – German authorities said late July 15, 2021 that at least 58 people had likely died in massive storms and flooding in the country’s west, an increase on the earlier toll of 45 dead. (Photo by Christof STACHE / AFP) (Photo by CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP via Getty Images)
TOPSHOT – Rail workers stand near a derailed carriage belonging to the Belgium SNCB train service, the day after heavy rains and floods near the town of Rochefort on July 16, 2021. – The death toll following heavy rain storms in Belgium has jumped to 15 with more than 21,000 people left without electricity in one region. The death toll from devastating floods in Europe soared to at least 108 on July 16, 2021, most in western Germany where emergency responders were frantically searching for missing peopl (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP) (Photo by JOHN THYS/AFP via Getty Images)
A fireman stands next to a destroyed car pressed against a tree by the torrents after the floods caused major damage in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, western Germany, on July 16, 2021. – The death toll from devastating floods in Europe soared to at least 118 on July 16, with at least 103 dead in Germany. (Photo by CHRISTOF STACHE / AFP) (Photo by CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP via Getty Images)
The flash floods this week followed days of heavy rainfall which turned streams and streets into raging torrents that swept away cars and caused houses to collapse across the region.
Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Joe Biden expressed their sorrow over the loss of life during a news conference at the White House late Thursday.
The long-time German leader, who was on a farewell trip to Washington, said she feared that “the full extent of this tragedy will only be seen in the coming days.”
The governor of North Rhine-Westphalia state, Armin Laschet, has called an emergency Cabinet meeting Friday. The 60-year-old’s handling of the flood disaster is widely seen as a test for his ambitions to succeed Merkel as chancellor in Germany’s national election on Sept. 26.
Officials have warned such disasters could become more common due to climate change.
Malu Dreyer, the governor of neighboring Rhineland-Palatinate state, said the disaster showed the need to speed up efforts to curb global warming.
Illustration shows damage due to the floods in Verviers after heavy rainfall, Thursday 15 July 2021. The provincial disaster plan has been declared in Liege, Luxembourg and Namur provinces after large amounts of rainfall. Water in several rivers has reached alarming levels.
BELGA PHOTO ANTHONY DEHEZ (Photo by ANTHONY DEHEZ/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)
A firefighter inspects a destroyed car amid debris and damaged houses hit by the floods in Schuld near Bad Neuenahr, western Germany, on July 15, 2021. – Heavy rains and floods lashing western Europe have killed at least 45 people in Germany and left around 50 missing, as rising waters led several houses to collapse. (Photo by Bernd Lauter / AFP) (Photo by BERND LAUTER/AFP via Getty Images)
TOPSHOT – Two men remove try to secure goods from next to debris of houses destroyed by the floods in Schuld near Bad Neuenahr, western Germany, on July 15, 2021. – Heavy rains and floods lashing western Europe have killed at least 42 people in Germany and left many more missing, as rising waters led several houses to collapse. (Photo by Bernd Lauter / AFP) (Photo by BERND LAUTER/AFP via Getty Images)
“We’ve experienced droughts, heavy rain and flooding events several years in a row, including in our state,” she told the Funke media group. “Climate chance isn’t abstract anymore. We are experiencing it up close and painfully.”
She accused the Laschet and Merkel’s center-right Union bloc of hindering efforts to achieve greater greenhouse gas reductions in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy and a major emitter of planet-warming gases.
Thousands of people remain homeless after their houses were destroyed or deemed at-risk by authorities, including several villages around the Steinbach reservoir that experts say could collapse under the weight of the floods.
The German army has deployed 900 soldiers to help with the rescue and clear-up efforts.
Across the border in Belgium, most of the drowned were found around Liege, where the rains hit hardest. Skies were largely overcast in eastern Belgium, with hopes rising that the worst of the calamity was over.
In the southern Dutch province of Limburg, troops piled sandbags to strengthen a 1.1 kilometer (0.7 miles) stretch of dike along the Maas river and police helped evacuate some low-lying neighborhoods.
Caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Thursday night that the government was officially declaring flood-hit regions a disaster area, meaning businesses and residents are eligible for compensation for damage.
Dutch King Willem-Alexander visited the region Thursday night and called the scenes “heart-breaking.”
Meanwhile, sustained rainfall in Switzerland has caused several rivers and lakes to break their banks. Public broadcaster SRF reported that a flash flood swept away cars, flooded basements and destroyed small bridges in the northern villages of Schleitheim und Beggingen late Thursday.