Western Germany hard hit by floods: “It reminds of tsunami videos”

Published on : 07/15/2021 – 15:55

Flooding killed 30 people, and dozens of people are missing.

Torrential rains have overflowed several rivers in western Germany, which submerged the streets, as shown in this video filmed, Wednesday, July 14, in the village of Altena, 40 kilometers from Dortmund in North Rhine-Westphalia. -North Westphalia:

^{The video was posted by our Observer Heiko on Twitter on July 14 and filmed by a friend of hers who lives in Altena.}

Other videos show waves of debris carried away by the current: we can see beds, tires, cars, barrels. A video posted Wednesday, July 14 and viewed more than 96,000 times on Twitter shows a drifting trailer being crushed as it passes under a bridge:

^{The video was filmed near the bridge of Nepomukbrücke, in the town of Rech south of Bonn.}

Water has also invaded houses, as we can see in this video posted on Snapchat, Wednesday July 14:

^{The video was filmed in Werdohl, a neighboring town of Altena.}

“The damage is endless”

Heiko lives in Ludenscheid, a few kilometers from Altena. Contacted by the Observers editorial team, he said:

The situation has never been more serious than yesterday. There have never been so many rivers that have overflowed at once and with such power. It reminds of tsunami videos!

A friend of mine lives in Altena. He was evacuated from his home when the situation calmed down. Before, help could not get through. He is now hosted by relatives.

^{This video published on July 14 and filmed in Stolberg, near Aachen, shows a half-submerged fire truck struggling to find its way through the flooded street.}

The floods you see in the video were caused by a small, normally quiet stream, which then flowed into the Lenne Valley, where Altena town center and its castle are located. The damage there is countless.

The situation is better today, but some rivers are slow to recede. Hope it doesn’t rain again.

In North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous region of Germany, 135,000 homes are without electricity. In some villages, according to our Observers, the Internet connection and the telephone network are disrupted.

Belgium and Luxembourg have also been affected by flooding. In France, three municipalities of Meurthe-et-Moselle are partly flooded and the orange “flood” vigilance is in effect.