Six killed and several missing in German floods

Houses are submerged on the overflowed river banks in Erdorf, Germany, as the village was flooded Thursday, July 15, 2021. Continuous rainfall has flooded numerous villages and cellars in Rhineland-Palatinate, southwestern Germany. (Harald Tittel/dpa via AP)

At least six people have died and several more are missing in Germany after heavy flooding turned streams and streets into raging torrents, sweeping away cars and causing buildings to collapse.

Police in the western city of Koblenz said four people had died in Ahrweiler county, and about 50 were trapped on the roofs of their houses awaiting rescue.

Six houses collapsed overnight in the village of Schuld. “Many people have been reported missing to us,” police said.

Water flows on the river Main in Frankfurt (Michael Probst/AP)

Authorities have declared an emergency in the region after days of heavy rain. Large parts of western and central Germany, as well as neighbouring countries have experienced widespread damage.

Police said an 82-year-old man died after a fall in his flooded basement in the western city of Wuppertal, which was among the hardest-hit.

A fireman drowned on Wednesday during rescue work in the western town of Altena, and another man is missing in the eastern town of Joehstadt after trying to secure his property from rising waters, authorities said.

Relentless rain through the night worsened the flooding conditions in eastern Belgium, where one person was reported drowned and at least one other was missing.

The main street in Spa, Belgium (Valentin Bianchi/AP)

Some towns saw water levels rise to unprecedented levels and saw their centres turned into gushing rivers.

Major roads were inundated and in the south and east of the nation, the railway service said all traffic was stopped, adding that “alternative transport is highly unlikely”.

In eastern Eupen, on the German border, one man was reported dead after he was swept away by a torrent, a local governor told RTBf network.

In Liege, the Meuse river could break its banks by early afternoon and spill into the heart of the city. Police warned residents to take precautionary measures.

Authorities in the southern Dutch town of Valkenburg, close to the German and Belgian borders, evacuated a care home and hospice overnight amid flooding that turned the tourist town’s main street into a river, Dutch media reported.

An unknown number of houses in the southern province of Limburg were hit by flooding as rivers burst their banks. There were no reports of injuries linked to flooding in the Netherlands.