 Germany to warn of future floods with phone alerts Berlin (AFP) July 26, 2021 - Germany will issue mobile phone alerts in the future to inform citizens of impending dangers, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Monday after deadly floods prompted a rethink of the country's warning systems. "Not everyone has always been enthusiastic about the idea in recent months. But I've decided that we're going to do it... There is no reasonable argument against it," Seehofer said in parliament. At least 180 people died when severe floods pummelled western Germany over two days in mid-July, raising questions about whether enough was done to warn residents ahead of time. Some 70 people are still missing after torrents of water ripped through entire towns and villages, destroying bridges, roads, railways and swathes of housing. Government spokeswoman Martina Fietz last week said the country's weather warning system and mobile phone app Nina had "worked" but admitted that "our experiences with this disaster show that we need to do more and better". Armin Schuster, president of the German civil protection agency (BBK), called for sirens to be reinstated in more areas. He also said the agency was considering introducing mobile phone alerts, but "a number of issues" would need to be talked through first, including the costs and data protection concerns. The alerts would be sent using a technology known as cell broadcast, which enables local authorities to send messages to multiple mobile phone users in a particular area at the same time. The alerts are similar to SMS messages, but can be sent and received anonymously and have the advantage of still working when networks are overloaded. The technology is not widely used in Europe, but is common in the US and Japan. Seehofer on Monday called for a mix of analogue and digital warnings. "The warning app is of no use if you are asleep at night and don't hear it. The siren, in turn, is of no use on its own because it doesn't tell people: What should they do?"
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It has been two weeks since the torrents of water trapped Nadia Neqrat on the first floor of a house in Belgium's eastern Trooz district, and she still has nightmares.
Now -- with the help of relatives, neighbours and volunteers -- she is among the residents trying to rebuild their lives.
The devastation from the worst floods here in living memory, which left at least 41 dead in Belgium and 180 in neighbouring Germany, is still strewn all around.
Broken furniture is piled up, debris litters the streets and the local school has been badly hit.
"It was really horrible, I don't wish anyone to go through this," Neqrat, 39, tells AFP, as her sister-in-law helps her to clear up her house.
"I have nightmares, but I feel most sorry for the children who have been through this."
Neqrat was at a neighbour's house when the waters came -- barely giving them enough time to grab some food and make it to the first floor.
They were then stranded there for around 48 hours waiting for someone to come and rescue them.
"But no one came. We had to make do. We felt abandoned," she said.
- 'We saw death' -
Piles of tinned foods, pasta and drinks now stand in the nearby church where the pews used to be.
Volunteers hand out coffee and croissants on the church square to locals who sometimes cannot hold back their tears.
"We saw death up close," says Jocelyne Chacon, 63.
She "lost everything" when the water inside her home rose to a height of 3.6 metres (12 feet).
Priscilla Breckpot, a nurse, confides that her "biggest trauma" was being separated from her children after she went to help her parents.
"My kids were screaming, my neighbours were trying to reassure them. My partner tried to go with a rescue team but the boat overturned," she recounts.
Eventually the children were reached after 24 hours.
During her anxious wait, Breckpot says she saw a dead body being carried along by the water.
The local authorities are offering psychological counselling to residents.
But Breckpot insists she is too busy, what with the insurance claims to file and clean-up to finish.
- 'Generosity' -
"We are in an absolute disaster which will last for years. At the same time we are faced with absolute generosity", says local priest Pierre Hannosset.
A woman, who has travelled two hours to get there, arrives with a basket full of provisions and leaves it at the church.
A group from the Flemish-speaking region of Flanders goes door to door to offer people bread and water.
Annick Troch a local municipal worker gave up a week of her summer holiday to come and help the recovery efforts.
"Psychologically it was tough on the first day, but then we see the smiles of people seeing us arrive," she says.
Mayor Fabien Beltran, whose office was destroyed, welcomes any assistance the area can get.
"Among my staff, people are starting to crack. The task is too enormous," he says.
"We need help from the outside."
To assist the victims, a medical bus parks up every afternoon to help locals requiring medicines or nursing injuries.
"People come to treat their wounds, to renew a prescription, and also to talk," explains Henri Bournameau, a retired general practitioner manning the temporary facility.
"But I believe that the big psychological problems will come later."
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Death toll from Henan floods rises to 71 as China braces for more rain
Beijing (AFP) July 27, 2021
The death toll from floods in central China's Henan province rose to 71 on Tuesday as a tribute at a subway where 14 people died was sealed off in a sign of sensitivity to public criticism of the government's handling of the disaster.
Torrential downpours dumped a year's rain in just three days last week on the hardest-hit city of Zhengzhou, flooding subway cars and trapping more than 500 commuters during rush hour last Tuesday.
Images of passengers inundated by shoulder-height water went viral ... read more
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