At 80, the number of victims from floods in Germany goes to 80

Rescue teams are continuing their search for hundreds of other missing people.

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Merkel promised full support for the affected, saying her government would not just leave the people “in this difficult and terrible time”.

German Lands Rajnland Falc and Nordran Vesthalen are the hardest hit, but Belgium and the Netherlands are also badly affected, while the floods are also in Luxembourg and Switzerland.

Belgian authorities have reported on at least 11 people dead.

Heavy rains are predicted throughout the region today.

About 15,000 police officers, soldiers and emergency service employees are participating in rescue search-for operations in Germany. Helicopters have pulled residents blocked from the roof as tanks are clearing roads from trees and debris.

Nobody expected this. Where did all this rain come from? It's crazy”, said Annemie Mueller, a 65-year-old resident from the flooded city of Mayen.

Land Prime Minister Nordrane Vesthalen, Armin Laschet, said the blame for extreme weather is global warming.

“We will face such events over and over again, and that means we have to accelerate climate protection measures... because climate change is not limited to a state of”, Laschet said.

“We do not yet know the extent of the damage, but will not leave communities alone, people affected”, he said during a visit to the flooded town of Hagen.

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said similarly. Germany “should prepare much better in the future, this extreme weather is the result of climate change”, he said.

In Belgium, dramatic images of floods showed cars that took water along a road in the town of Vervi.

Residents of the city of Liezh, Belgium's third largest urban area, were ordered to evacuate. Local officials said that those who are unable to leave should be moved to the upper floors of their buildings.

The Mouz River, which flows through the city, is still to swell. Officials are concerned that a dam in the area could collapse and called on residents to help each other.

“The situation of the crisis is extraordinary and solidarity must prevail”, the local authority said through a statement.

The king of Belgium, Philippe, and Queen Mathilda visited a crisis centre southeast of Liezh, set up for the affected residents.

In Holland, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima inspected the damage in Valeknburg near Belgian and German borders where the floods swept through the city centre and forced the evacuation of several homes of elders.

The Netherlands has not reported any victims, but thousands of people in towns and villages along the Mouz River have been encouraged to leave their homes quickly. / REL