TWO PEOPLE HAVE died and thousands more have been evacuated in southern Germany as heavy rain brings widespread flooding.
Emergency responders are trying to evacuate people from areas harshly impacted by floods that Chancellor Olaf Scholz, on a visit to the affected region, described as a “warning” of the threat of climate change.
The body of a 43-year-old woman was discovered today in the basement of her home in Schrobenhausen, Bavaria.
Yesterday, a 42-year-old volunteer died in nearby Pfaffenhofen after his inflatable vessel capsized during a flood rescue operation, while another volunteer, aged 22, is missing after his boat also overturned.
A search operation to find the missing 22-year-old was forced to pause due to high waters and strong currents, according to local police.
The German Weather Service issued new weather warnings today cautioning of heavy rain in parts of southern and eastern Germany.
Thousands of people in the regions of Bavaria and Baden Wuerttemberg have needed to flee their homes since torrential rain on Friday triggered the flooding.
In Bavaria, around 800 people were asked to leave their homes in the area of Ebenhausen-Werk after a dam burst early today, while residents in Manching-Pichl were told to shelter in the upper floors of their homes.
Scholz has visited Reichertshofen, a flood-hit area north of Munich, where he said that these kinds of floods are a sign of climate change.
“We must not neglect the task of stopping man-made climate change,” the German chancellor said, speaking to reporters.
He said the floods are a “warning we that we must take with us”.
Bavarian leader Markus Soeder, who was with Scholz on his visit, said that “events are happening here that have never happened before”.
He said that the situation “remains critical and tense” as water recedes in some places but flooding surges elsewhere, requiring further evacuations.
Soeder said that the flooding that has plagued Germany in recent years shows “we cannot neglect the task of halting man-made climate change”.
There have been widespread train cancellations and delays, with rail operator Deutcshe Bahn saying that railway lines leading from Munich to Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Wuerzburg are unusable.
A high-speed train was derailed due to a landslide and blocked a line in the early hours of yesterday morning, but no injuries were reported.
Additional reporting by Press Association and AFP
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