Severe Floods Left Western Europe with Over 50 Deaths, Thousands Missing [Video]

• Western Europe was ravaged by severe floods on Thursday.
• Over 50 people have died in Germany, with thousands more still missing.
• Weather service personnel noted that the amount of rainfall was the highest in about a century.

Severe floods have ravaged Western Europe, killing more than 50 people in Germany as of Thursday night.

According to reports from The Washington Post and New York Times, around 58 people have died while 1,300 are still missing across the country.

In Belgium, at least 11 people have died, the New York Times and BBC reported. The extreme weather also caused floods in Luxembourg, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Warnings have been issued in some parts of France.

Several houses were washed away while some Germans waited from their rooftops to be rescued. Dozens of communities experienced the loss of electricity and cell phone signals.

Emergency responders, firefighters, helicopter personnel, police, and military officials have teamed up to save those reported missing.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is currently visiting President Joe Biden at the White House.

She said in a press conference, “My sympathy goes to the relatives of the dead and missing. I grieve for those who have lost their lives in this disaster. We still don’t know the number. But it will be many.”

Merkel added, “Heavy rain and flooding’ doesn’t capture what happened.”

German weather service spokesperson Andreas Friedrich told CNN that the precipitation levels reached record numbers that have not been recorded in about a century. He said, “In some areas we’ve seen more than double the amount of rainfall which has caused flooding and unfortunately some building structures to collapse.”

Politicians, climate activists, and other leaders attributed the extreme weather to climate change.

“Deadly heatwaves, floods, storms, wildfires, droughts, crop failures… This is not ‘the new normal’,” climate activist Greta Thunberg tweeted. “We’re at the very beginning of a climate and ecological emergency, and extreme weather events will only become more and more frequent.”

European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated on Twitter: “My thoughts are with the families of the victims of the devastating floods in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands and those who have lost their homes. The E.U. is ready to help.”

Just days before the disaster, the European Union declared its goal to cut its use of fossil fuels and greenhouse gases by 55 percent by 2030.

Source: PEOPLE