Rescue workers on Saturday searched flood-ravaged parts of western Germany for more survivors as water levels remained high in many towns and houses continued to collapse in the country’s worst natural disaster in half a century.
At least 133 people have died in the flooding, including some 90 people in the Ahrweiler district south of Cologne, according to police estimates Saturday. Hundreds of people are still missing.
About 700 residents were evacuated late Friday after a dam broke in the town of Wassenberg near Cologne, authorities said.
The floods have mostly hit the states of Rhineland Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia and have cut off entire communities from power and communications over three past several days.
The flooding also has hit parts of Belgium and the Netherlands. At least 20 people have died in Belgium.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Armin Laschet, state premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, were scheduled to visit Erftstadt, one of the hardest hit towns, on Saturday.
