The big clean up begins: Volunteers create human chain to help clear roads and homes devastated by floods that killed 180 in Germany and 41 in Belgium

Volunteers equipped with buckets are creating human chains to help clear roads and homes of debris and muddy water after their livelihoods were devastated by floods that killed more than 220 people in Germany and Belgium.

The helpers, who wore overalls and wellies, were pictured passing buckets of mud along a line as they worked to empty a flooded cellar in the northern state of Rhineland-Palatinate in Altenahr, Germany.

Communities in Germany have also rallied to clear clear the roads of debris after the devastating floods destroyed houses and swept cars away.   

In Belgium, locals are trying to clear up the devastation caused by the deadly floods two weeks ago - but their efforts were scuppered after new floods hit the country and washed away cars on Saturday. 

At least 180 people in Germany were killed by the devastating floods earlier this month, while 41 people were killed in neighbouring Belgium.  

Some 70 people are still missing in Germany after torrents of water ripped through entire towns and villages, destroying bridges, roads, railways and swathes of housing.   

The flooding - some of the worst to hit Europe in decades - was triggered by torrential downpours which dumped three months of rain across western Germany, part of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg two weeks ago. 

The cleanup has now begun - with homes, businesses and infrastructure destroyed across huge swathes of countryside and Germany's finance minister estimating the final repair bill will be in the 'billions'.

The helpers, who wore overalls and wellies, were pictured passing buckets of mud along a line as they worked to empty a flooded cellar in the northern state of Rhineland-Palatinate in Altenahr, Germany, on Tuesday

Volunteers equipped with buckets are creating human chains to help clear roads and homes of debris and muddy water in Rhineland-Palatinate

A couple of volunteers swap buckets as they transfer muddy water from a cellar in Rhineland-Palatinate on July 27

In Belgium, locals are trying to clear up the devastation caused by the deadly floods two weeks ago - but their efforts were scuppered after new floods hit the country and washed away cars on Saturday

A house completely destroyed after the flood disaster stands on the banks of the Ahr in Insul, Germany, is pictured on July 27

The southern Belgian town of Dinant was hit by the heaviest floods in decades at the weekend after a two-hour thunderstorm turned streets into torrential streams.   

Dinant was spared the deadly floods 10 days ago that killed 37 people in southeast Belgium and many more in Germany, but the violence of Saturday's storm surprised many.

'I have been living in Dinant for 57 years, and I've never seen anything like that,' Richard Fournaux, the former mayor of the town on the Meuse river and birthplace of the 19th century inventor of the saxophone, Adolphe Sax, said on social media.

Rainwater gushing down steep streets swept away dozens of cars, piling them in a heap at a crossing, and washed away cobbles stones, pavements and whole sections of tarmac as inhabitants watched in horror from windows.

There was no precise estimate of the damage, with town authorities predicting only that it would be 'significant', according to Belgian RTL TV. 

Locals in Dinant were seen walking across the rubble as they tried to clean up the debris while workers tried to rebuild destroyed streets.  

People clear the rubble from the street after flooding due to heavy rains on 24 July, in Dinant, Belgium

This picture shows a view of damaged houses in the Belgian town of Trooz, a week after heavy rains and floods lashed western Europe

Locals in Dinant were seen walking across the rubble as they tried to clean up the debris while workers tried to rebuild destroyed streets

A picture taken on July 26, 2021 shows a view of houses which collapsed in the Belgian town of Trooz

Cars were damaged in Pepinster, Belgium, after the devastating floods two weeks ago 

This picture shows a view of houses which collapsed in the Belgian town of Trooz while large trees also fell down after the storms two weeks ago

Around 30,000 people remain homeless or without water and electricity in large parts of the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate as a result of the floods. 

Residents in the devastated areas will be needing support and comfort for a long time yet.

'This flood will leave scars on the people of Schuld - scars that you don't forget, that can't be overcome, because our lives changed from one day to the next,' Mayor Helmut Lussi said, breaking into sobs as he spoke.

For Nadia Neqrat, who was trapped on the first floor of her house in Belgium's eastern Trooz district, she still has nightmares about the floods.

Now, with the the help of relatives, neighbours and volunteers, she is among the residents trying to rebuild their lives.    

Broken furniture remains piled up while 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, said, 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 rain 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. 

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.

Piles of rubbles can be seen amongst fallen trees in the Belgian town of Trooz, after the devastating floods caused chaos

Volunteers collect supplies in the Church on July 26  in the Belgian town of Trooz to help locals who have lost their homes

Cars can be seen covered with rubble in the Belgian town of Trooz after the devastating floods two weeks ago

A destroyed street is seen in an area affected by floods caused by heavy rainfalls in Bad Muenstereifel, Germany

Volunteers and German army personnel help to clear away toxic mud coating the town of Schuld after historic flooding

A man helps with cleanup operations in the town of Schuld, Germany, as the country's finance minister estimates that the final repair bill will end up being in the 'billions'

A woman helps shovel toxic mud out of a home in Schuld, Germany, which was among the hardest-hit in flooding - though it has emerged the nobody in the town died

'We saw death up close,' said 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. 

'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.

BELGIUM: A woman wades through a flooded street in Liege after heavy rains hit the area and caused widespread flooding

BELGIUM: People evacuate their flooded homes in the city of Liege, Belgium, after torrential rains left their street underwater

Caravans, cars and mobile homes that were swept away by the flood wave hang together on a bridge over the River Ahr, in Altenahr, western Germany

A man pushes a wheelbarrow past a destroyed house on a muddy street full of debris in the small city of Dernau

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.' 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has visited the worst-hit regions, including the town of Schuld and the Ahrweiler region in which is sits. She struggled to find words to describe the scene that greeted her.   

Merkel said she came away from Schuld, still partly strewn with rubble and mud in bright sunshine, with 'a real picture of, I must say, the surreal, ghostly situation.'

'It is shocking - I would almost say that the German language barely has words for the devastation that has been wreaked,' she said at a news conference in a nearby town.

Merkel said authorities will work to 'set the world right again in this beautiful region, step by step.'

Chancellor Angela Merkel visiting the village of Schuld on July 18, situated along the Ahr river, which has been left devastated by extreme flooding

Ms Merkel (third from left) and Ms Dreyer (second from right) listen attentively to a local in Schuld as they inspect the damage left by flash flooding 

A helper makes his way as works through a flood-ravaged street in the centre of Bad Muenstereifel

A resident trudges through the disaster left by flash flooding in the German zone of Bad Muenstereifel

Homes and businesses have been left destroyed following catastrophic flooding in Germany two weeks ago

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that more than 300 million euros ($354 million) will be needed immediately. 

And he said officials must set up a longer-term rebuilding program which, from experience with previous flooding, will be in the billions of euros.

'Thankfully, Germany is a country that can manage this financially,' said Merkel, who is stepping down as chancellor following an election in September. 

'Germany is a strong country and we will stand up to this force of nature in the short term - but also in the medium and long term, through policy that pays more regard to nature and the climate than we did in recent years. That will be necessary too.'

Climate scientists say the link between extreme weather and global warming is unmistakable and the urgency to tackle climate change undeniable.

Scientists can't yet say for sure whether climate change caused the flooding, but they insist that it certainly exacerbates the extreme weather disasters on display around the world.

'We must get faster in the battle against climate change,' Merkel said, pointing to policies already set in motion by Germany and the European Union to cut greenhouse gas emissions. 

'And nevertheless, the second lesson is that we must pay great attention to adaptation' to climate change.

Members of the Bundeswehr work in an area affected by floods caused by heavy rainfalls in Bad Muenstereifel, Germany

A member of the German armed forces helps carry away a fridge destroyed during flooding in Bad Muenstereifel

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A near-destroyed street is pictured in the German town of Euskirchen after flooding caused widespread destruction

A view of destroyed houses in Erftstadt-Blessem, Germany, which were destroyed after the ground beneath them collapsed into a nearby gravel pit

Three firefighters look at severely damaged ancient houses after the floods caused major damage in Schuld near Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, western Germany

Investing in fighting climate change is expensive, she said, but failing to do so is even more costly.

'One flood isn't the example of climate change, but if we look at the loss events of recent years, decades, then they are simply more frequent than they were previously - so we must make a great effort,' Merkel said.

Questions have been raised in Germany about whether enough was done to warn the residents of the severe floods ahead of time.    

In response, the country will now issue mobile phone alerts in the future to inform citizens of impending dangers, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Monday after the 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. 

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 , 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?'