Thread by @pmagn

Climate Emergency: HUNDREDS (1,300!) Missing & at Least 69 Dead as Raging Floods Strike Western Europe

Strong rains caused rivers to burst their banks & wash away buildings in Belgium & Germany. Netherlands & Switzerland also flooded
#bcpoli #cdnpoli #goc
nyti.ms/36DN4Zy

premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, blamed extreme weather on global warming:

"We will be faced with such events over & over, & that means we need to SPEED UP climate protection measures... because climate change isn't confined to one state"
bbc.co.uk/news/world-eur…

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is in the US ahead of a meeting with President Joe Biden, called the flooding a "catastrophe"

"Nobody was expecting this - where did all this rain come from? It's crazy,"

"It made such a loud noise.. thought it would break the door down."

Local teacher Ortrud Meyer, 36, said she had "NEVER seen anything like this".

"My father-in-law is almost 80, he's from Mayen, and he says he's NEVER experienced anything like this,"

The Meuse river which flows through the city is expected to rise by another 1.5m

Officials are also concerned that a dam bridge in the area may collapse & urged people to help each other.

"The crisis situation is exceptional and solidarity must prevail,"

In the Dutch city of Maastricht, 10,000 people have been ordered to evacuate.