German broadcaster Angela Merkel is set to visit flood-ravaged areas of Germany on Sunday to survey the damage and meet survivors after days of torrential rains in Western Europe that left at least 183 dead and dozens missing.
Merkel is due to travel to the village of Szold in the Rhineland-Palatinate, one of the two worst-hit regions in western Germany, where a river has washed away homes and littered the streets.
At least 156 people have died since Wednesday in Germany’s worst flooding in living memory, police said in an update Sunday morning.
In the state of Rhineland-Palatinate alone, police reported 110 dead and 670 wounded.
At least 27 people were also killed in neighboring Belgium.
Rescue teams in both countries were searching the ruins to find victims, often in dangerous conditions.
Historical heavy rain also hit Switzerland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
As the waters begin to recede in neighboring Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, concern has shifted south to Germany’s Upper Bavaria, where torrential rains flooded cellars and swollen rivers and streams late Saturday.
A spokeswoman for the province of Bavaria told AFP that one person had died in Berchtesgadner Land.
In Austria, emergency workers in the Salzburg and Tirol regions were on high flood alert. The historic city center of Hallen, near the German border, was under water.
«Unfortunately, heavy rains and storms are causing serious damage in several places in Austria,» Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Twitter.
Merkel called the floods a «tragedy» and pledged federal government support for Germany’s stricken municipalities.
Speaking alongside US President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday, Merkel said her «heart goes out to all those who have lost loved ones in this disaster.»
The government said it is working to create a special aid fund, and the cost of the damages is expected to reach several billion euros.
‘Inappropriate moment’
The disaster has taken on an increasingly political character in Germany, which heads to the polls on September 26 for a general election that will mark the end of Merkel’s 16 years in power.
With experts saying climate change is making extreme weather events like these more likely, the candidates vying to succeed the veteran leader have called for more climate action.
Armin Laschet, prime minister of the hard-hit state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the front-runner in the race for the chancellorship, said efforts to tackle global warming must be «accelerated».
But Laschet, who heads Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party and is currently leading in opinion polls, scored an own goal on Saturday when he was photographed laughing in the devastated town of Irwistadt in New South Wales state, where floods triggered a landslide.
In the footage, Laschet is seen talking and joking in the background while President Frank-Walter Steinmeier made a statement expressing his sympathy for the bereaved families.
Conservative Chancellor’s candidate Armin Laschet has apologized after online criticism for appearing laughing in the background while German President Steinmeier made a somber statement about helping flood victims. pic.twitter.com/oDz6wz97oh
– DW News (@dwnews) 17 July 2021
«Laschet laughs while the country cries,» wrote the Bild bestseller.
Laschet later apologized on Twitter for the «inappropriate» moment.
armored vehicles
The scale of the flood’s impact is gradually becoming apparent in Germany, with assessments of damaged buildings, some of which will have to be demolished, and efforts underway to restore gas, electric and telephone services.
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In some areas, soldiers used armor to clear rubble and clogged streets.
More than 670 people have been injured, said Roger Luents, the interior minister in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
«I’ve lived here my whole life, I was born here, and I’ve never seen anything like it before,» said Gregor Degen, a baker in the ruined spa town of Bad Neuenaer-Aroeller, near Sjöld.
Across the border in Belgium, the death toll jumped to 27 with many more missing.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister Alexander de Croo visited the flooded areas of Rochefort and Pepinster together on Saturday.
Von der Leyen then tweeted: «Europe is with you.» «We are with you in mourning and we will be with you in rebuilding.»
Belgium declared Tuesday an official day of mourning.
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