Floods Lead to 156 Dead in Western Europe, 600 Injured and 1300 Missing

Some of the worst flooding in over 50 years has damaged many parts of Northwestern Europe, leading to over 100 dead and millions of Euros in damage.

The flooding in Germany has led to many villages being almost completely submerged. (Photo: CNN)

For four consecutive days strong rains caused enormous damage to material goods and human life. The environmental catastrophe hit mostly the western German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. The damage did not limit itself to Germany, as it also affected the neighboring states of Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands.

It is one of the biggest environmental catastrophes which have occurred in Germany in over 50 years. Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in the region to inspect the disaster. Emergency services are still working hard to rescue more victims as the level of the flood is reducing constantly. The authorities however expect also to find more dead people that were trapped within their homes and did not have the opportunity to evacuate themselves in time.

The Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz announced last week that the state is prepared to invest 300 million Euros to help the victims of the catastrophe. After this event it is expected that the political agenda of environmental issues will be more important for the parties in the upcoming nationwide legislative election that is set for September 2021.