[PHOTOS] At least two dead in floods in Germany: Chancellor Scholz points to climate change

Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday showed solidarity with the victims of floods in southern Germany which left at least two dead, saying it was a “warning of climate change”, originally , according to him, of these disasters.

Southern Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, Germany’s two southernmost regional states, have been hit by heavy rains since Friday and thousands of people continue to be evacuated.

Visiting Reichertshofen, in Bavaria, one of the places most affected by heavy downpours and floods for four days, Olaf Scholz estimated that these types of disasters were increasing.

“This is already the fourth time this year that I have visited a (flooded) area. It is a reminder of what is at work. We must not neglect our duty to stop man-made climate change,” said the German leader, wearing boots and a raincoat.

“We must consider this event, this catastrophe, as a warning,” he added.

“No comprehensive insurance”

Alongside him, the head of Bavaria’s regional government, Markus Söder, added: “there is no all-risk insurance against the challenges of climate change.”

In a report published on Monday, a panel of experts ruled that the German government’s forecasts for greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 were unrealistic. According to them, emissions from the transport, construction and industry sectors have been underestimated.

Since the start of the floods, two deaths have been recorded: the body of a 43-year-old woman, who had been missing since Saturday, was found in the cellar of her house in Schrobenhausen, Bavaria, according to police on Monday.

This is the second death after that reported Sunday of a 42-year-old volunteer firefighter. The latter lost his life during a rescue operation in Pfaffenhofen (50 km north of Munich), where up to 800 people had to be evacuated after a dike broke.

In Offingen (south), another 22-year-old volunteer firefighter is still missing.

In flooded regions, train movement in these regions is very difficult, German railways, Deutsche Bahn, noted. Cancellations and delays are expected, they said on their site.

In particular, it is not possible to connect Munich with trains from Stuttgart, Würzburg and Nuremberg.

Germany remains traumatized by deadly floods in July 2021. Rivers suddenly burst their banks in the west of the country, killing more than 180 people and destroying villages, bridges and roads.