(Vatican Radio) French President Francois Hollande has declared a state of emergency in areas worst affected by deadly flooding that also impacted other areas in Europe killing at least 10 people, most of them in Germany.Holland announced the emergency Thursday as torrential rains across France forced thousands of people from their homes. Listen to the report by Stefan Bos: Stranded motorists were rescued by soldiers as flood waters rose, while in the capital Paris a metro line was shut and staff at the famed Louvre museum were told the venue was likely to close.Amid the misery an 86-year old woman was found dead in her flooded house in a small town southwest of Paris late Wednesday, apparently the first casualty from the heavy rains that caused several rivers to burst their banks. Many others died across Europe especially in Germany. In the town of Triftern in Germany's flood-stricken Bavaria region houses have been partly submerged. Flooding blocked roads a...
(Vatican Radio) French President Francois Hollande has declared a state of emergency in areas worst affected by deadly flooding that also impacted other areas in Europe killing at least 10 people, most of them in Germany.
Holland announced the emergency Thursday as torrential rains across France forced thousands of people from their homes.
Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:
Stranded motorists were rescued by soldiers as flood waters rose, while in the capital Paris a metro line was shut and staff at the famed Louvre museum were told the venue was likely to close.
Amid the misery an 86-year old woman was found dead in her flooded house in a small town southwest of Paris late Wednesday, apparently the first casualty from the heavy rains that caused several rivers to burst their banks. Many others died across Europe especially in Germany.
In the town of Triftern in Germany's flood-stricken Bavaria region houses have been partly submerged. Flooding blocked roads and left residents stranded.
Some residents had to be rescued by boat or helicopter.
Yet not everyone could be saved: German police said they've found the body of a fifth victim after floods swept part of Bavaria. The body of a man was found Thursday at a property in the town of Simbach am Inn. The human remains of three other victims were found in the same town on Wednesday evening. In nearby Julbach, the body of a woman was also discovered in a stream late Wednesday. And police said some roads remain closed in the area near the Austrian border.
BELGIUM HIT HARD
Belgium also endured a fourth day of heavy rain, with flooding reported in several areas across the country. After widespread flooding hit northern Antwerp and the west of Flanders early in the week, waters kept rising in eastern areas around Limburg and Liege. Several neighborhoods have had to be evacuated as cellars flooded and streets were submerged in overflowing creeks and rivers.
One major train line linking eastern Limburg to the capital had to be temporarily suspended early Thursday. The neighboring Netherlands, much of it already below sea level, also experienced days of flooding in several areas.
And several other countries in Central and Eastern Europe also saw heavy rains, flooding roads and towns.
Some experts claim the weather is linked to global climate change and that Europe should prepare for more troubles to come.
Whatever the reason, forecasters do agree that more heavy downpours are expected right through the weekend in an area from France to Ukraine, with as much as 50 millimeters of rain falling in some parts in just a few hours.
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