More than 1,000 missing after devastating German floods, 100+ dead
16 July 2021
At least 100 people have died and about 1,300 are believed missing in Germany and Belgium from a rare flood event that ripped through the region, per AP.
Driving the news: 50 people have died in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, including at least nine residents of an assisted living facility for people with disabilities, per AP.
- In North Rhine-Westphalia, state officials put the death toll at 43, but warned that the figure could rise further.
- During a visit with President Biden on Thursday Chancellor Angela Merkel said "the full extent of this tragedy will only be seen in the coming days."
- Thousands of people remain homeless after their houses were destroyed by the flooding or deemed at-risk by authorities.
- The German army has deployed 900 soldiers to help with rescue efforts, per AP.
The big picture: Flash floods this week followed days of heavy rainfall, which caused rivers and reservoirs to burst through their banks.
- The rainfall amounts had around a 1% chance of occurring in an individual year, making it a 100-year rainstorm.
- Authorities cautioned that the high number of individuals missing could be due to duplication of data and difficulties reaching people because of disrupted roads and phone connections.
Between the lines: Scientists are analyzing the rainfall amounts for more precise calculations and to determine the role that global warming played in this disaster, but studies have shown climate change increases the odds of and severity of extreme precipitation events.
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.