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Residents in Liege, Belgium rescue dogs from deep floodwater
A video shows some people in Belgium rescuing a pair of dogs that were trapped in the floodwater that’s devastated Western Europe and killed nearly 200 people. Credit: Cheikh Hussein Karm via Storyful
Amid the devastating and deadly floodwaters in Western Europe, some residents in Liege, Belgium were seen rescuing a pair of dogs caught in the high water.
Cheikh Hussein Karm recorded a video of the dog rescue and posted it to TikTok.
In the video, the water is waist-high filling a city street. The tops of vehicles are barely poking out and, on top of one car, lies a dog who can be heard whimpering.
Down the street, a man is guiding a second dog as the animal paddles through the water. He leads the dog over to the car and hoists it up on top of the car roof to wait with the other dog.
RELATED: Europe flooding: Death toll reaches 180; Merkel tours aftermath
Heavy rain hit the region on Wednesday and Thursday, killing more than 31 people in the country. In neighboring Germany, more than 150 deaths had been reported.
Although the rain has stopped in the worst-affected areas of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, storms and downpours have persisted elsewhere in western and central Europe. There was flooding Saturday night in the German-Czech border area, in Germany’s southeastern corner, and over the border in Austria.
Climate scientists say the link between extreme weather and global warming is unmistakable and the urgency to tackle climate change is 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.
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"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," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
She visited one of the affected cities Sunday, pledging quick financial aid and a redoubled political focus on curbing climate change.
"It is shocking — I would almost say that the German language barely has words for the devastation that has been wreaked," she said.
This story was reported from Detroit. Storyful and The Associated Press contributed.