July 19, 2021: The death toll from the worst flooding in living memory in Germany has risen to 165 as emergency services continue to comb through devastated towns for missing survivors.

Last week, two days of torrential rains flooded West Germany, sending water down the streets, flooding trees, cars and sheds, and destroying homes. Many victims have been found dead in a sodden cellars after trying to recover valuables, while others have been swept away by the sheer force of the water.

Emergency workers are mobilized to clean up damaged buildings, debris and restore gas, electricity and telephone services. In some areas, police have deployed speedboats and divers to retrieve bodies.

A police spokesman told AFP that a total of 117 deaths were now being confirmed in the Rhineland-Palatinate state, with 47 killed in neighboring North Rhine-Westphalia and one in Bavaria.

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer and Armin Laschet, the head of North Rhine-Westphalia state and the frontrunner to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor, were on Monday due to visit the Euskirchen, one of the worst-affected towns.

On Sunday, Merkel called the catastrophe “shocking” and called on the world to step up efforts to tackle the climate crisis.

The catastrophe has brought climate change to the top of Germany’s agenda ahead of the September 26 election, which will mark the end of Merkel’s 16 years in power. Experts say that because a warmer climate has more water, climate change increases the risk and intensity of flooding from heavy rains.

Heavy rains have lashed southern Germany as well as Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Austria in recent days. At least 31 people have been killed in Belgium.

The high death toll has also been checked by Germany’s weather warning system and whether people in high-risk areas were notified early.

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