FRANKFURT, Germany (Reuters) – A firefighter died as he tried to rescue residents trapped by major flooding in southern Germany after heavy rain expected to continue throughout Sunday.
The man, 42, was in a rescue boat with four firefighters on board, which capsized late on Saturday. His body was recovered early on Sunday, a spokesman for the Bavarian town of Pfaffenbach an der Ilm, about 50 km north of Munich, said.
While municipalities had days to prepare for the flooding, rescuers still had to evacuate hundreds of people as water closed off some areas, authorities said.
“We owe our thanks and respect to the rescue workers and helpers who are struggling with the consequences of the floods in many places,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on X.
Economy Minister and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck pledged support to affected regions during a visit on Sunday, noting that climate change is causing more severe weather events.
“Natural disasters have always accompanied humanity. What we are seeing is that the frequency of these events is increasing significantly. Every few years there are record floods… every few years record rainfall,” the Green Party’s Habeck told broadcaster n- TV.
Parts of Europe were hit by major floods in 2021 that killed almost 200 people, with Germany bearing the brunt. The disaster was largely blamed on the effects of climate change and led to calls for stricter warning and safety measures.
(This story has been corrected to remove the word “public” for n-tv, which is not a public broadcaster, in paragraph 6)
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Frances Kerry)
