In photos: Floodwaters rise in Europe following record rainfall
16 July 2021
Following days of heavy rainfall in Germany and Belgium, rivers and reservoirs have burst through their banks to create a rare flood event that's left more than 125 people dead.
State of play: The equivalent of two months of rain has fallen on some areas over the last one to two days, per AP, citing the French national weather service.
- Scientists are analyzing the rainfall for more precise calculations and to determine the role that global warming played in this disaster.
Go deeper: At least 125 people dead after devastating German floods
In photos
A man moves possessions inside a flooded house on July 16 in Geulle, Netherlands. Photo: Sanne Derks/Getty Images.
Damage caused by floods in Liege after the heavy rainfall of the past days on July 16. Photo: Bernard Gillet/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images
This picture taken in Chaudfontaine, near Liege, on July 16 shows debris piled up next to a bridge after the flood. Photo by John Thys/AFP via Getty Images
A car sits sunken in a deluged area after a major flood in the Ahrlweiler district of Germany's mountainous Eifel area on July 16. Photo: Adam Berry/Getty Images
Destroyed furniture and household goods are piled up in front of a flooded house in Iversheim near Bad Muenstereifel, western Germany. Photo: Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images
A flooded street is seen in Bad Muenstereifel, western Germany, on July 16 after heavy rain hit parts of the country, causing widespread flooding. Photo: Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.