(Bloomberg) — The death toll from the floods that devastated parts of western Germany rose to almost 200, with scores of people injured and many others unaccounted for after houses were swept away and roads and bridges were badly damaged.
Many rail lines and streets remained blocked, and tens of thousands were without electricity as of July 16 as rescue workers toiled in the worst-hit areas in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia — which is run by conservative chancellor candidate Armin Laschet — and Rhineland-Palatinate.
"Our region is experiencing a flooding catastrophe of historic proportions," Laschet, who is the front-runner to succeed Angela Merkel after September's election, said Friday, July 16, at a news conference. Linking the flooding to global warming, he said Germany must speed up its effort to achieve climate neutrality.
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