“We must get faster in the battle against climate change,” Merkel said, pointing to policies already set in motion by Germany and the European Union to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists can’t yet say for sure whether climate change caused the flooding, but they insist that it certainly exacerbates the extreme weather disasters on display around the world. That will be necessary too.”Ĭlimate scientists say the link between extreme weather and global warming is unmistakable and the urgency to tackle climate change undeniable. “Germany is a strong country and we will stand up to this force of nature in the short term - but also in the medium and long term, through policy that pays more regard to nature and the climate than we did in recent years. “Thankfully, Germany is a country that can manage this financially,” said Merkel, who is stepping down as chancellor following an election in September. And he said officials must set up a longer-term rebuilding program which, from experience with previous flooding, will be in the billions of euros. Merkel said she came away from Schuld, still partly strewn with rubble and mud in bright sunshine, with “a real picture of, I must say, the surreal, ghostly situation.”įinance Minister Olaf Scholz told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that more than 300 million euros ($354 million) will be needed immediately. In neighboring North Rhine-Westphalia state, Germany’s most populous, 46 people were killed, including four firefighters. The death toll in the Ahrweiler area, where Schuld is located, stood at 112.Īuthorities said people are still missing and they fear the toll may still rise. Merkel toured Schuld, a village on a tight curve of the Ahr River in western Germany where many buildings were damaged or destroyed by rapidly rising floodwaters Wednesday night.Īlthough the mayor of Schuld said no one was killed or injured there, many other places weren’t so lucky. BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel surveyed what she called a “surreal, ghostly” scene in a devastated village on Sunday, pledging quick financial aid and a redoubled political focus on curbing climate change as the death toll from floods in Western Europe climbed above 180.
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