Perilous
Times and Climate Change
Fierce Flooding in Germany inundates roads, villages
The Associated Press
Sunday, January 9, 2011; 12:05 PM
BERLIN -- Rivers in western Germany are overflowing their banks
due to pouring rain and melting snow, flooding many roads and
parts of several villages.
Authorities in Rhineland-Palatinate, the worst-hit state, said
Sunday the wine towns of Cochem and Zell along the Mosel River
were partly inundated and dozens of basements had filled up with
water.
German news agency DAPD reported that the Rhine River had also
dangerously swollen and many roads in the Rhine Valley were
closed. Part of the city of Konstanz was inundated and commercial
shipping was banned on the Rhine up to the city of Cologne.
DAPD, however, quoted meteorologists in Trier as saying the
swelling of the Mosel, a tributary of the Rhine, was not unusual
and was likely to pass without causing major damage.