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DEVASTATING floods have battered parts of a German state as heavy rains turned roads into raging rivers.
The western German province of Saarland has sent out emergency alerts after it was plunged into soaking wet misery on Friday.
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Avalon.red
AFP
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Dramatic footage shows drowned German towns after record levels of rainfall hit the region.
In other images, cars can be seen submerged in murky water as the roads quickly transformed into rivers.
Rescuers scrambled to save stranded residents from their sinking houses on boats as they received thousands of calls for help.
Shelters have been set up in schools and a hotline has been established to assist those affected.
Citizens have been warned to steer clear of swamped streets as the alert read: “Flood waves can come suddenly, banks can collapse.
“Crossing flooded streets should be avoided at all costs – both on foot and by car.”
Thousands of volunteers and 850 workers from the federal relief agency joined hands to tackle the aftermath of the calamity.
In Völklingen, houses have suffered power outage after the disaster caused a “considerable” damage.
The town municipality said: “In Völklingen, millions of euros worth of damage is expected, especially in the private sector.
“The extent of the damage is not yet foreseeable.”
No deaths have been reported but at least one person is believed to have been injured.
The downpour has eased on Saturday morning, but the German Weather Service recorded at least 4.2 inches of rain.
Officials claimed the latest flooding to be the worst in the last 30 years of the region’s history.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz cancelled his election campaign appearance on Saturday and headed to the region for inspection.
He was seen wearing rain boots as he toured the areas devastated by floods today.
Schols told reporters: “Unfortunately, it is not the first time that we have to manage a big natural disaster and therefore we will of course look at what needs to be done here now and what is necessary.”
A dam in the local community of Riveris has spilled over, sending huge flows of water into the main streets of the city.
The city mayor told SWR: “This time the water just came from all sides. We are located in a valley surrounded by two very steep slopes.
“There were a lot of unfortunate circumstances that led to it ending so disastrously.”
Heavy rains have also triggered flooding in the neighbouring Belgium and the Netherlands.
In 2021, the deadliest flood in decades unleashed on the regions of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, killing at least 106 people.
Germany hit with the deadliest floods in 2021
MORE than 100 people died in Germany and up to 1,300 went missing after one of the worst floods in its history unleashed raging floods and landslides.
German media has dubbed the national disaster a “flood of death” with at least 106 dead across the states of North-Rhine Westphalia and Rhineland Palatinate.
Entire communities laid in ruins after swollen rivers swept through towns and villages.
About 1,300 people were missing in the Ahrweiler district south of Cologne, the district government said.
In the village of 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 war zone.”
Chancellor Merkel dubbed the dire weather “a catastrophe” ahead of a meeting in Washington with US President Joe Biden.
She told a press conference: “Heavy rainfall and floods are very inadequate words to describe this — it is therefore really a catastrophe.
“I fear that we will only see the full extent of the disaster in the coming days.”
Reuters
AFP
AFP
AFP
English (US)