Heavy rain and once-in-a-generation floods has caused the collapse of six houses in Germany’s western state of Rhineland-Palatinate, leaving several people missing and many stranded on rooftops. Two firemen drowned and the army was deployed to help stranded residents on Wednesday, after a slow-moving low-pressure weather system caused once-in-a-generation floods. A truck drives through a flooded street in Hagen, western Germany. “We see this kind of situation only in winter ordinarily,” Bernd Mehlig, an environment official from North Rhine-Westphalia, the most affected region, told WDR. The firefighter died when he lost his footing in flood waters and was swept away, authorities told WDR.

Source: The Guardian July 14, 2021 22:31 UTC