Germany : 4 dead and 30 missing due to severe floods
At least four people have died and many more are missing following severe floods in western Germany, police say. The worst of the flooding has been in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, where around 50 people have been waiting on rooftops to be rescued. Dozens more are missing in the hilly Eifel region after several homes collapsed.
Around 25 more houses are in danger of collapsing in the district of Schuld bei Adenau in the hilly Eiffel region. A spokesman for the district told the broadcaster a family-of-five were stranded in a property completely surrounded by water. Homes have been evacuated in areas within a 50 metre radius of the Ahr river.
The German weather service issued an extreme weather warning on Wednesday for parts of three western states, while Hagen, a city of 180,000, declared a state of emergency after the Volme river burst its banks.
Rail and road transport were disrupted, and shipping on the Rhine, an important trade artery, was suspended. More heavy rain was due in southwestern Germany, on the upper reaches of the German Rhine, on Thursday and Friday, the German Weather Service said.
