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Europe floods: Rescuers race to find survivors as hundreds remain missing
Crews scramble to reach victims of deadly floods in Germany and Belgium, where hundreds are missing.
International
Rescue crews have been racing to find survivors of floods that have wreaked havoc across western Europe, killing more than 150 people.
Hundreds are still missing after record rainfall triggered severe floods in Germany and Belgium.
Heavy rains also hit Switzerland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands - where PM Mark Rutte has declared a national disaster in one southern province.
European leaders have blamed the extreme weather on climate change.
Experts say global warming makes torrential rainfall more likely.
The world has already warmed by about 1.2C since the industrial era began.
In Germany, where the death toll stands at over 100, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he was stunned by the devastation ahead of a visit to a flood-hit region on Saturday.
"Whole places are scarred by the disaster," Mr Steinmeier said at a news conference. "Many people have lost what they have built all their lives."
Fears grow for missing
Rescue teams in Germany were hampered by difficult conditions on Friday, leaving relatives of the missing waiting anxiously for news.
Phone networks were down, roads were badly damaged, and more than 100,000 homes were without power.
But despite the ongoing rescue efforts, people have reportedly been travelling to see the damage, leading the police in Mainz to ask people not to "tour a disaster area" where people had suffered so much loss. Similar warnings have been issued in the Netherlands, according to NOS.com.