ERFTSTADT (Germany): Rescue workers scrambled Saturday to find survivors and victims of the devastation wreaked by the worst floods to hit western Europe in living memory, which have already left at least 165 people dead and dozens more missing.
Western Germany has suffered the most brutal impact of the deluge that also pummelled Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, leaving streets and homes submerged in muddy water and isolating entire communities.
With the death toll in Germany at 141 into the fourth day of the disaster, authorities said more bodies were likely to be found in sodden cellars and collapsed homes. Some 22,000 rescuers have been mobilised.
In Germany's worst-hit states of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and Rhineland-Palatinate, residents who fled the deluge were gradually returning to their homes and scenes of desolation.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is scheduled to visit the hard-hit town of Schuld in Rhineland-Palatinate on Sunday, her first trip to the flood zones since returning from a White House visit on Friday.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier meanwhile was surveying the damage in Erftstadt in NRW on Saturday, where a landslide was triggered by the floods.
"We are mourning with all those who lost friends, acquaintances or family members," he said.
Soldiers could be seen wading waist-deep in muddy water in Erftstadt as they attempted to clear the streets and search for victims. Many cars were still submerged, their doors flung open by those who managed to escape.
"We have broken highways, collapsed bridges, completely broken roads. It may be months, years before life in Erftstadt and the surrounding area resumes as we knew it," said Elmar Mettke, a spokesman for the local fire service.
At least 98 of the victims lived in the Ahrweiler district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Koblenz police said in an updated toll, including 12 residents of a home for the disabled who drowned in the rising waters.
In neighbouring Belgium, the death toll jumped to 24 with many people still missing.
Prime Minister Alexander de Croo was heading for the scene of what he has called "unprecedented" flood damage in the Meuse River basin. He has declared Tuesday a day of official mourning.
Luxembourg and the Netherlands were also hammered by heavy rains, inundating many areas and forcing thousands to be evacuated in the city of Maastricht.
A burst dam in Germany's Heinsberg district 65 kilometres (40 miles) southwest of Duesseldorf overnight prompted the emergency evacuation of more than 700 residents.
In some affected areas, firefighters, local officials and soldiers, some driving tanks, have begun the colossal work of clearing the piles of debris clogging the streets.
"The task is immense," said Tim Kurzbach, mayor of Solingen, a city in the south of the Ruhr area.
The real scale of the disaster is only now becoming clear, with damaged buildings being assessed, some of which will have to be demolished, and efforts under way to restore gas, electricity and telephone services.
The disruption to communication networks has complicated efforts to assess the number still missing, and most roads in the submerged Ahr Valley are out of service.
Roger Lewentz, interior minister for Rhineland-Palatinate, told local media up to 60 people were believed to be missing. More than 670 were injured.
The government has said it is working to set up a special aid fund, with the cost of damage expected to reach several billion euros (dollars).
Merkel has vowed to provide "short and long-term support from the government" to stricken municipalities.
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