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Rescue teams rushed to locate survivors of the floods that wreaked havoc across western Europe, killing at least 170 people.
Many people remain missing after record rains triggered severe flooding in Germany and Belgium, and the death toll is expected to rise further.
Submerged cars are searched for bodies as the floodwaters begin to recede.
But a senior German politician has been criticized for laughing during a visit to the affected areas.
Armin Laschet, who is the Tory candidate to replace outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel, was caught on camera apparently joking with colleagues as President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed sympathy for the victims.
aha. pic.twitter.com/XA6rC3uXII
– toto (@josefheynckes) July 17, 2021
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M. Laschet later tweeted (in German) that he regretted his behavior, but commentators and politicians were quick to condemn it.
“Laschet laughs as the country cries,” the Bild newspaper said on its website.
Ms Merkel herself is expected to visit the region on Sunday afternoon.
EU leaders blamed climate change on the floods, which also affected Switzerland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
Experts say global warming is making torrential rains more likely.
The world has already warmed by around 1.2 ° C since the start of the industrial age.
At least 143 people are now known to have died in the floods in Germany, including four firefighters.
Rescue teams were hampered by difficult conditions on Friday, leaving relatives of the missing eagerly awaiting news.
But on Saturday, authorities said the number of people missing had steadily declined.
The states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland were the most affected by the precipitation.
And although the risk of further flooding is decreasing, the Steinbachtal dam in North Rhine-Westphalia, southwest of the city of Bonn, is of growing concern.
Inspectors say large parts of the structure have come loose, leaving it extremely unstable and more people may be asked to leave their homes.
Meanwhile, rescuers searched abandoned cars on the still flooded B265 road, but fire department spokesman Elmar Mettke said no bodies had yet been found.
“It appears that in the cars we have checked so far, the occupants have all reached dry land unharmed. But we will keep looking and it will be some time before we are done here, ”he told Reuters news agency.
A resident of Schuld, in the Ahrweiler district of Rhineland-Palatinate, told AFP news agency cars were blown away and houses overturned in scenes he compared to a “war zone” .
In the nearby spa town of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, residents were determined to start the massive clean-up operation, scraping mud from the streets and cleaning up the piles of debris.
But many of the city’s businesses and livelihoods have been wiped out. Almost 100 people in Ahrweiler are believed to have died.
Despite ongoing rescue efforts, people have reportedly traveled to see the damage, which Mainz police ask people not to “visit a disaster area” where people had suffered so much. Similar warnings have been issued in the Netherlands, according to NOS.com.
Chronicle of an announced disaster
Scientists have predicted for years that summer precipitation and heat waves would become more intense as a result of human-induced climate change.
Hannah Cloke, professor of hydrology at the University of Reading, said: “The death and destruction across Europe as a result of the floods is a tragedy that should have been avoided.
“The fact that other parts of the northern hemisphere are currently experiencing record heat waves and fires should remind us how dangerous our weather could become in an increasingly hot world.”
Scientists say governments need to both reduce the CO2 emissions that fuel extreme events and prepare for more extreme weather conditions.
Yet in the UK – hit by severe flooding on Monday – the government’s climate change advisory committee recently told ministers the country is even less prepared for extreme weather than it was five years ago. years.
And just this week, the UK government told people they didn’t need to cut back on thefts because the technology would solve the emissions problem – a notion most experts see as a gamble.
In Belgium, the army was sent to four of the country’s 10 provinces to help with the rescue and evacuations. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has declared July 20 a national day of mourning.
He said the floods – which killed at least 27 people in Belgium – could be “the most catastrophic our country has ever known”.
Rescuers from France, Italy and Austria were dispatched to the city of Liège, where residents were evacuated after flash floods.
Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, thousands of people fled their homes in the province of Limburg as rising waters flooded towns and broke a dike.
But the waters were receding in the southern city of Maastricht and neighboring towns, where residents were able to return home on Friday.
But the waters were receding in the southern city of Maastricht and neighboring towns, where residents were able to return home on Friday.
In Switzerland, lakes and rivers also swelled after heavy rains. The river that crosses the Swiss capital Bern overflowed on Friday.
Lake Lucerne floods the city and the inhabitants of Basel have been ordered to stay away from the Rhine.
How does climate change cause flooding?
- Global warming causes more water to evaporate, resulting in an increase in the annual amount of rain and snow
- At the same time, a warmer atmosphere means it can hold more moisture – which also increases the intensity of precipitation.
- Rather than gently watering the plants, these intense rains lead to flooding, as currently seen in Northern Europe.
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