The number of flood victims in Germany increased to 19

Severe storms and flooding caused by Cyclone Bernd killed at least 19 people in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, newspaper reported Frankfurter Rundschau.

Eight deaths have been reported in the Euskirchen region of North Rhine-Westphalia. In Altena and Verdola, two firefighters were killed during rescue operations. In Cologne, rescuers found a dead woman and a man in a flooded basement.

In the city of Schuld in the Ahrweiler district of the Eiffel, where houses collapsed, four people died.

In Solingen, in the Unna district, houses drowned in the basement two men. The dead woman was found on a street in Rheinbach near Bonn. There is likely a link to the storms, according to police.

Cyclone “Bernd” brought heavy rains with it to several federal states of Germany at once. The German meteorological service Deutscher Wetterdiens warned on Wednesday 14 July that extreme weather conditions, including severe thunderstorms and prolonged rainstorms, will persist in North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saar and several regions of the state of Hesse. The daily rainfall is expected to range from 50 to 200 liters per square meter, Deutsche Welle broadcasts.