Filmed on July 18, 2021.
RHEINLAND-PFALZ, Germany — Paul Gila, 75, is one of the many forever impacted by the massive flooding across parts of western Europe. Among the at least 110 people killed in Germany’s Ahrweiler, the worst-hit district, are some of his close friends.
"Indeed, what happened here was very, very catastrophic," Gila told Rudaw’s Alla Shaly, who has lived in Ahrweiler his whole life.
"In this neighbourhood, a couple who was very close friends with us and our neighbors drowned in their bedroom due to the flooding. We reached out to them and shouted at them, but they did not hear us," the senior citizen recounted.
With waters beginning to recede and cleanup underway, German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday promised short and long-term financial assistance to the flood-ravaged areas in Germany.
"We are in solidarity with them," Merkel said in the village of Schuld, the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. "We will provide long-term strategic assistance to those who have been damaged."
The floods have reportedly killed at least 188 people in Europe over the past few days. Many more are still missing.
Translation by Zhelwan Zeyad Wali
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