As the death toll reaches 180 people in Western Europe due to the floods, the German Chancellor visited the impoverished areas and pledged aid.
“It is a surreal and ghostly situation. I would almost say that the German language is struggling to find the words to describe the devastation that has been caused,” Merkel said to reporters promising to restore order in the devastated areas.
Olaf Scholz, Germany’s minister of finance, also vowed to provide an emergency package of €300 million to be followed by several billion-dollar plans to reconstruct the country.
Merkel promised to double efforts on curbing climate change and vowed to enhance political power to counter the disaster.
“Germany is a strong country, and we will stand up to this force of nature in the short term — but also in the medium and long term, through policy that pays more regard to nature and the climate than we did in recent years. That will be necessary too,” she said.
While about 157 German people died aftermath the flood, only 31 from Belgium died. And about 163 people are still missing.
Other countries like France, Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland have also been affected by the worst flood Europe has been in living memory.
