Police put the toll from the hard-hit Ahrweiler area of western Germany's Rhineland-Palatinate state at quite 110 and said they feared the amount should rise. In neighboring North Rhine-Westphalia state, Germany's most populous, 45 people were confirmed dead, including four firefighters. And Belgium has confirmed 27 casualties.
Chancellor Angela Merkel was because of visit Schuld, a village near Ahrweiler that was devastated by the flooding, later Sunday. Her visit comes after Germany's president visited the world on Saturday and made clear that it'll need long-term support.
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said he will propose a package of immediate aid at a cupboard meeting on Wednesday, telling the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that quite 300 million euros ($354 million) are going to be needed. And he said that officials must start fixing a rebuilding program which, from experience with previous flooding, are going to be within the billions of euros.
Although rain has stopped within the worst-affected areas of Germany, Belgium and therefore the Netherlands, storms and downpours have persisted in other parts of western and central Europe. There was flooding Saturday night within the German-Czech border area, across the country from where last week's floods hit, and in Germany's southeastern corner and over the border in Austria.
Some 65 people were evacuated in Germany's Berchtesgaden area after the Ache River swelled. a minimum of one person was killed.
A flash flood swept through the nearby Austrian town of Hallein late Saturday, but there have been no reports of casualties.
Heavy rain and storms caused serious damage in several parts of Austria.
Climate scientists say the link between extreme weather and heating is unmistakable and therefore the urgency to try to to something about global climate change undeniable.
Scientists can’t yet say needless to say whether global climate change caused the flooding, but they insist that it certainly exacerbates the acute weather that has been on show round the world.
