At least 81 dead in Germany as storms ravage Europe
Around 1,300 people missing in one German district after heavy rains, flooding swept through area
Authorities in Germany's Rhineland-Palatinate said Friday that 50 people have died in devastating floods in the western state, bringing the national death toll to at least 81, with dozens more missing.
"The number of dead has gone up to 50" from 28 in the badly hit region, a spokesman for the interior ministry of Rhineland-Palatinate, Timo Haungs, told AFP.
Heavy rains and floods lashing western Europe have also killed nine in Belgium, and many more people are missing as rising waters caused several houses to collapse on Thursday.
In Germany, which is experiencing one of the worst weather disasters since World War II, desperate residents sought refuge on the roofs of their homes as rescue helicopters circled above.
Unusually heavy rains also inundated neighboring Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium.
On a visit to Washington, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her "heart goes out" to the victims of the flooding
"I fear that we will only see the full extent of the disaster in the coming days," she said, adding that the government is doing its "utmost to help (people) in their distress."
US President Joe Biden, speaking alongside Merkel at a joint news conference, offered his "sincere condolences and the condolences of the American people for the devastating loss of life and destruction."
Around 15,000 members of the German emergency services, police and army were on the ground in the worst-hit areas.
The North Rhine-Westphalia interior ministry tallied four more bodies recovered, taking the region's toll to at least 31, while neighboring Rhineland-Palatinate said nine more deaths were likely in addition to 19 recovered in the region around the western town of Ahrweiler alone.
In the devastated Ahrweiler district around 1,300 people were unaccounted for, although local authorities said the high number was likely down to damaged phone networks.