The death toll of the recent floods that hit western Europe rose to 188, amid expectations that the toll could rise further.
The floods have killed at least 157 in Germany alone in recent days.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel had described the flooding as “terrifying.”
“It is terrifying.. the German language can barely describe the devastation that’s taken place.”
“The sum of all events that we are witnessing in Germany and the forces with which they occur all suggest … that it has something to do with climate change,” she told residents of Adenau in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
“We have to hurry; we have to get faster in the fight against climate change.”
The German government has allocated more than 300 million euros ($354 million) in immediate relief for the affected areas.
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz affirmed that billions of euros would be sent to fix collapsed houses, streets and bridges.
“There is huge damage, and that much is clear: those who lost their businesses, their houses, cannot stem the losses alone.”
It is worth mentioning that dozens of deaths were pronounced dead, and hundreds more are still missing in western Europe as tutorial rains hit the area.
The rainstorm was considered the worst natural disaster in Europe in living memory.
The heavy rains caused rivers to burst their banks and wash away buildings in Belgium and Germany.
Homes and streets in the Netherlands and Switzerland also flooded.
In Belgium, 12 people were pronounced dead.
France, the Netherlands and Switzerland have also been hit by flooding. No casualties are declared till the time of writing.
In Belgium, which will hold a national day of mourning on Tuesday, 163 people are still missing or unreachable. The crisis centre said water levels were falling and a huge clean-up operation was underway. The military was sent into the eastern town of Pepinster, where a dozen buildings have collapsed, to search for any further victims.
About 37,0000 households were without electricity, and Belgian authorities said the supply of clean drinking water was also a major concern.
