Over 120 people have been confirmed dead in flooding incidents that have ravaged most of Western Germany, Belgium and some parts of the Netherlands. The Belgian Government has also disclosed that next week Tuesday would be a National day of Mourning for the dead.
Photos have emerged online showing towns and villages in Germany completely submerged in floodwaters as 105 deaths have been confirmed in Europe’s largest economy. A CNN report put the total death toll so far at “120 people, with hundreds more missing.” Rescue efforts have been intensified amid rising water, landslides and power outages.
“Science tells us that with climate change we see more and more extreme weather phenomena that last longer,” European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference in Dublin on Friday. 1,300 people remain unaccounted for in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Dutch officials ordered the evacuation of 10,000 people in the municipality of Venlo, where the Maas river rose faster than expected. A dam along the River Rur in the Western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia also broke on Friday night, according to the regional government.
“Officials have started the evacuation of about 700 residents in the Ophoven neighbourhood in the city of Wassenberg,” they said.
At the time of writing, 165,000 people were reported to be without power in Rhineland-Palatinate and neighbouring North Rhine-Westphalia, and authorities expect the casualties to rise even higher as rainfall records 100-year highs.
In Belgium, at least 21,000 are without electricity, with at least 20 deaths recorded. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced a National Day of Mourning next week Tuesday.
“It will be a moment to reflect on the great human loss, it will also be a moment to show solidarity, to show closeness, to show friendship,” he said.
“What were meant to be beautiful summer days suddenly turned into dark and extremely sad days for a high number of our fellow citizens,” he added.
Back home in Nigeria…
Nairametrics confirmed that Friday’s torrential rainfall in various parts of Lagos and Ogun State led to flood incidents in the two states.
Residents were forced to stay indoors or seek makeshift shelters while in transit as various streets were covered in floodwater. The heavy rain also slowed the free flow of traffic, creating gridlocks in many parts of the Lagos metropolis.
Some of the affected areas are Marina, Lekki, Agege, Iju Road, Victoria Island, Oshodi, Ilupeju, Ogudu, Ketu and Magboro among other parts of the two states.
i believed, All Nigerians should rise up by fighting against sudden
Climatic change because this is a global problem which we need to tackle down
Every day we are experiencing earth environmental climate change all over the world people are loosing their life as well as properties due to Climate change
The only solution to these problems is by involving ourselves in planting one trillion trees annually ,these will definitely helps combatting the problem of land slide, flooding environmental pollution and climate weather change.
Our government should see these as a problems affecting humanities globally .Government should sponsors non governmental organization who are out there in readiness to solve these problems.
I am still surprised how Nigeria escaped death from such a flood. My condolence to the countries affected. That rain was scary.