Unsuspecting residents were caught completely off guard by the torrent dubbed the “flood of death” by German newspaper Bild.
Streets and houses were submerged by water in some areas, while cars were left overturned on soaked streets after flood waters passed. Some districts were completely cut off.
“Everything was under water within 15 minutes,” Agron Berischa, a 21-year-old decorator from Bad Neuenahr in Rhineland-Palatinate state, told AFP.
“Our flat, our office, our neighbours’ houses, everywhere was under water.”
In nearby Schuld, Hans-Dieter Vrancken, 65, said “caravans, cars were washed away, trees were uprooted, houses were knocked down”.
“We have lived here in Schuld for over 20 years and we have never experienced anything like it. It’s like a warzone,” he said.
Roger Lewentz, interior minister for Rheinland-Palatinate, told Bild the death toll was likely to rise as emergency services continued to search the affected areas over the coming days.
“When emptying cellars or pumping out cellars, we keep coming across people who have lost their lives in these floods,” he said.
Adding to the devastation, several more people were feared dead in a landslide in the town of Erftstadt in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) triggered by the floods.
Being a journalist in Pakistan means you must be willing to live with a Damoclean…
Pakistan's historic lunar payload - regardless of how small it may be when compared to…
Barack Obama's rise to the presidency in 2009 gave hope to millions across the globe.…
Pakistan is neither a jungle nor are the ways of the jungle followed here. There…
The long-term adverse effects of a polarized nation extend beyond immediate social unrest to the…
Leave a Comment