‘The coming days will be the hardest’ – Liege acting mayor
At least 120 people have died and hundreds are unaccounted for after some of the worst flooding in western Europe in decades.
The acting mayor of Liege in Belgium, Christine Defraigne, told BBC World News that while the river level was now dropping, the city was now facing a “terrible aftermath”.
“I think our population is very resilient, very courageous, but I think that the coming days will be the very hardest to go through because the days of mourning, of sadness and of grieving are coming up to us,” she said.
The acting mayor said 22 people had died, others were missing and some were still stuck in their homes.
In Germany, where the death toll now stands at over 100, Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for a determined battle against climate change.
The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland have also been affected.
Many factors contribute to flooding, but a warming atmosphere caused by climate change makes extreme rainfall more likely.
The world has already warmed by about 1.2C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.
