France and Germany have been battling floods for several weeks. Hundreds of people have been placed in emergency accommodation.
As Germany prepares for more floods, Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the worst-hit areas in the east of the country. Two weeks of persistent rains have submerged several towns and villages.
The focus now is on preventing further damage. Emergency teams are busy building dikes and stacking sandbags.
Similar scenes took place in other European regions. In France, Pas-de-Calais has been facing flooding since November. Teams of rescuers from all over Europe were deployed on site.
Some residents saw their homes flooded for a second time in a few weeks.
“We were told everything was safe, so it made sense to us that this would never happen. In the seven years we’ve been here, we’ve never flooded.” laments a resident of Nord-Pas-de-Calais.
Across the region, hundreds of people have been forced to shelter in gyms and other emergency accommodation. With the threat of further flooding, no one knows when it will be possible to return home.