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Extreme flooding hits Europe - 21st July 2021

Torrential rain and colossal storms have brought calamitous flooding to swathes of northwest Europe which were deluged with two months' rainfall in a single 48 hour period.

Receiving in the region of 100 to 150 millimetres of rain, the countries most seriously impacted included the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, where areas lying beside generally benign rivers and lesser tributaries sustained the most damage. Such waterways, having no flood defence systems in place, caused surges of water to inundate their surroundings.

The widespread and intense devastation has hit local communities hard. A considerable number suffered serious injury, and while the death toll stands at around 200, somewhere in the region of a thousand are reported missing.

Sabine: "It went very fast. The water rose to 1.6 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 severity of the downpours outpaced procedures to evacuate residents to safety. As officials and armed forces work in concert to restore access to isolated communities and direct rescue missions, local people are coming to one another’s aid.

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."

Although they are unable to conclusively pin any such catastrophe on global heating, climatologists have consistently warned of a growth in the frequency of extreme weather events as the climate changes.