Troops, firefighters deployed in major clean-up

SCHULD (Germany) • Troops and firefighters were called in yesterday to help villagers launch a mammoth clean-up after the worst floods to hit western Europe in decades left over 150 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 133, rescuers said it is likely more bodies will be found in sodden cellars as the clean-up gets under way in earnest.

In Germany's worst-hit regions of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, residents who fled the deluge were gradually returning to their homes and scenes of desolation.

In the 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," admitted the 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 of people still missing.

"We have to assume we will find further victims," said Ms Carolin Weitzel, Mayor of Erftstadt in North Rhine-Westphalia which experienced a terrifying landslide triggered by the floods.

In neighbouring Belgium, the death toll jumped to 24 with more than 21,000 people left without electricity in one region.

Luxembourg and the Netherlands were also hammered by heavy rains, inundating many areas and forcing thousands to be evacuated in the city of Maastricht.

Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel described the situation in many parts of his country as dramatic and said the financial damage was huge.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE