Schuld: The number of people who lost their lives in severe flooding in the western part of Germany increased to at least 81 on Friday, according to ARD German broadcasters, in what was the worst in these years.
About 1,300 people were missing in the South Ahrweiler District of Cologne, said the district government on Facebook.
The cellphone network has collapsed in several flood-hit areas, which means that family and friends cannot trace the people they love.
The whole community lies in the ruins after the swollen river sweeps the city and villages in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate.
Partial views of the flood road and houses destroyed by floods at Schuld near Bad Neuenahr, West Germany.
(Photo of Credit: AFP) On Friday morning, the houses collapsed at Erftstadt near Cologne, and the savior crew struggled to help residents who had returned to their homes despite warnings, said the Cologne district government on Facebook.
It is said that many people are still in homes and some are missing.
Gas leaks increasingly inhibit rescue workers when they try to reach out to people who are stranded by boat.
People pass through trunks that have fallen to the road after heavy rain and floods at Echtershausen, near Bitburg, West Germany.
(Photo credit: AFP) One dam close to the Belgian border, Rurtalsperre, flooded with overnight while the other, Steinbachtalsperre, unstable.
North Rhine-Westfalia Parliament will hold an emergency meeting on Friday.
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told Spiegel magazine that the federal government aims to provide financial support for the affected regions as soon as possible, adding it to go to the cabinet for approval on Wednesday.
Flooding in Germany claimed 81 victims, more than 1,000 lost
