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Extreme flooding hits Europe - 21st July 2021
Severe storms and torrential rain have caused devastating floods across western Europe, which was drenched by as much as 150 millimetres of rain in two days. This amounts to the expected rainfall for an entire two months.
The rains struck the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany most severely, with areas most dramatically impacted located near smaller rivers or tributaries, which lacked flood defences. The sheer quantity of water saw rivers burst their banks.
Countless properties have been devastated and the floods have had a massive impact on communities. There are hundreds injured and, with up to a thousand missing, it’s feared the current death count of 200 will rise further.
Sabine: "It went very fast, the water rose to 1.60 metres. Some corpses were floating in the water, people took refuge on the roofs, it was really horrible. A lot of water came into the houses. There’s nothing left to save, the houses are no longer inhabitable. There’s no electricity, no water either.”
The speed and weight of the rainfall meant there was little time for evacuation. Military forces are endeavouring to clear flooded roads, restoring access to disaster zones. In the meantime, locals are pulling together in the crisis.
Heinz Gies: "We are helping each other. There are also many volunteers who came to help and who provide us with water, coffee, food and I thank them from the bottom of my heart."
Whilst it’s impossible to identify climate change as the sole cause of this crisis, climatologists predict that with global heating worsening, such weather events will become more commonplace.
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