Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada 
Heavy rainfall has caused severe flooding in western Germany leaving at least 100 people dead and hundreds more missing.
The rain caused rivers to burst their banks, leading to collapse of buildings, washing away of people and vehicles and devastating the region.
The flood, which is one of the worst floods in decades, has been tagged a consequence of climate change by German political leaders.
Angela Merkel, German Chancellor who pledged full support for the victims however expressed fears “that we will only see the full extent of the disaster in the coming days,” saying the incident is one “characterised by fear, by despair, by suffering”.
During a visit to a hard-hit area, Armin Laschet, premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, blamed the extreme weather on global warming, saying climate protection measures must be accelerated.
According to reports, a village of Schuld with a population of 700 was almost entirely destroyed.
Authorities say up to 1,300 people are unaccounted for in the western German district of Ahrweiler and efforts to contact them are being hindered by badly damaged phone networks.
Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland are also affected.
Some 15,000 police, soldiers and emergency service workers have been deployed in Germany to help with the search and rescue, while helicopters picked stranded residents from roof tops and tanks cleared roads of fallen trees and debris.
Speaking during a meeting with US President Joe Biden in Washington DC, Mrs Merkel expressed her “deepest condolences” and pledge government support for the rescue efforts.
The interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia said it was impossible to give a clear number of casualties, adding that many people had “lost everything”.
In Belgium, dramatic footage of the floods showed cars being swept away along a street in the city of Verviers. A curfew was in place overnight because of the risk of looting.
Residents of Liège, Belgium’s third-largest urban area after Brussels and Antwerp, were ordered to evacuate. Local officials said those unable to leave should move to the upper floors of their buildings.
The Meuse river, which flows through the city, stabilised on Friday morning, with small overflows in some areas. Officials are also concerned that a dam bridge in the area may collapse and urged people to help each other.
“The crisis situation is exceptional and solidarity must prevail,” the local authority said in a statement.
More heavy rainfall was forecast across the region on Friday.
