July 15, 2021: At least six people have died and dozens are missing after heavy rains triggered flash floods in parts of Germany, damaging homes and disrupting transport.

Buildings gave way in Rhineland area of Schuld bei Adenau amid heavy rain and once-in-a-generation flooding.

Heavy rains and once-in-a-lifetime flooding have destroyed six homes in the western German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, leaving several missing and several trapped on rooftops. Initial reports from the broadcaster SWR said that according to police, about 30 people were missing and about 25 more houses were in danger of collapsing in the area of Mount Eiffel, Shield B. Adnau. “Currently we have an unknown number of people on the rooftops who need to be rescued,” a Coblin police spokesman told Reuters news agency.

Police in the western city of Koblenz said in a Twitter post on Thursday that four people had died in Ahrweiler county, with some 50 others trapped on the roofs of their houses awaiting rescue. Local police said at least six of the missing were on the roofs of houses that were swept away by floodwaters in the municipality of Schuld, where rivers burst their banks due to rain.

Authorities have declared a state of emergency in the area after several days of rain disrupted rail, road and river services. In addition to large parts of West and Central Germany, neighboring countries have also suffered heavy losses. An 82-year-old man died after falling into his flooded basement in the western city of Purple, police said.

Two firefighters drowned Wednesday after an intermittent flooding following a slow-moving low-pressure weather system, and troops were deployed to help stranded residents in the West German city of Altina, and another man went missing after disappearing in the eastern town of Joehstadt when he tried to protect his property from rising water.

Heavy rain is expected in southwestern Germany on Friday, with rain continuing until Friday evening, the German Meteorological Service warned in a morning bulletin.

Rail, road and river traffic has been disrupted in the country’s most populous region. The German Meteorological Agency issued a severe weather warning for parts of the three western states on Wednesday, while Hagen, a city of 180,000, declared a state of emergency following the eruption of the Volme River.

Parts of Hagen were described as isolated from high waters and inaccessible to all. Troops had to be sent to clear some areas of the city. Residents have also been told to leave a district in the area’s capital, Dusseldorf. A care home in Hagen had to be evacuated, while firefighters throughout the area were busy pumping water out of hundreds of cellars. In one hospital, lifts failed due to floodwaters. Two men, aged 53 and 81, were missing elsewhere in the area.

The prime minister of North Rhine-Westphalia and Merkel’s successor, conservative candidate Armin Laschet, was due to visit the region on Thursday.

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