In Western Europe, at least 125 people have lost their lives in devastating floods in the region over the past several days. Countries like Germany and Belgium witnessed some of the worst floods in decades. In Germany, the death toll is likely to go up as the catastrophic floods have swept through western regions demolishing streets, houses and washing away vehicles.
On Friday buildings continued to crumble under the force of raging torrents unleashed by storms that parked over the region for days.
Entire neighborhoods lay in ruins after days of heavy rains — the worst deluge recorded in the region in more than 200 years. The downpour sparked flash flooding across huge swathes of western Germany and several neighbouring nations.
Water spilled over the banks of rivers and turned roadways into torrents so powerful that they demolished much of what stood in their way.
Thousands of residents in Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate states were forced to evacuate their homes, while 165,000 were left without electricity.
According to sources, more than 1,000 people are still missing in flood-stricken regions of western Germany and Belgium. Communications were cut in many areas after rivers in spate caused devastation in the western states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate as well as in parts of Belgium and the Netherlands.
In Belgium, there were at least 20 dead and another 20 were reported missing.
As the floodwaters started to recede on Friday, thousands of rescue workers, including 850 German soldiers, were seen taking part in the rescue operation.
(Inputs from NewsOnAir, cbsnews)
