BERLIN,
August 19 (News Agencies) - Torrential rains and flooding rivers have
devastated large areas of Europe, Asia and central America in the past
two weeks, killing hundreds and sending panicked governments
scrambling to take action.
About
100 people have died as flood waters continue to rage through some of
Europe’s historic cities while in Asia, the traditional monsoon
season has left hundreds dead and millions more without shelter,
reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The
freak weather has revived concerns that modern civilization is at
fault, with some environmental groups and politicians blaming global
climate change - a charge still fiercely disputed.
The
surging Elbe river was bearing down on more German towns on Sunday,
August 18, crashing through dams at near-record levels as central
European leaders met with senior E.U. officials to discuss the massive
rebuilding job that lies ahead.
Outside
the town of Wittenberg, best known as the home of Reformation leader
Martin Luther, around 40,000 people were evacuated as the Elbe smashed
a 20-meter (60-foot) hole through a nearby dam in Pratau.
Emergency
workers were busily laying sandbags to staunch the flow of water which
has made its way down from Prague, the Czech capital which has been
one of the cities hardest hit by the deluge.
Czech
authorities ordered more evacuations Sunday in Prague amid fears that
more buildings would collapse from the swirling waters of the
overflowing Vltava river.
Around
220,000 Czechs were forced out of their homes by the worst floods in
more than 100 years.
In
Hungary, more than 20,000 people were working to reinforce dykes in
anticipation of record flood levels expected to hit Budapest later in
the day, the disaster management service said.
German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder held a summit in Berlin with leaders from
Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the European Union to assess
the crisis, which in Europe alone is already believed to have caused
tens of billions of euros (dollars) in damage.
A
source close to the German government said that E.U. aid could amount
to five billion euros for repairs of flood damage in the south and
east of the country.
Schroeder
was expected to announce the amount of E.U. assistance on Monday after
a government meeting.
The
European Investment Bank (EIB) proposed Sunday to the four leaders of
the flood-ravaged countries special loans which would cover as much as
100 percent of those projects it funded.
Meanwhile
in Asia, China has been one of the countries hardest hit this monsoon
season. State media confirmed Sunday that around 250 people had been
killed in a fortnight of heavy rains.
In
Xinping county in Yunan province, the toll after rain-induced
landslides cut a 50-meter (170-foot) chasm in the side of a mountain
has risen to 33 dead and 30 missing.
“I
have never seen such a terrible natural disaster in my life,”
state-run Xinhua news agency quoted a 70-year-old woman as saying.
More
than 800 people have been killed and millions displaced by floods and
landslides in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
In
southeast Asia, flash floods ripped through mountainous areas of
northern Vietnam this week, killing four, submerging hundreds of homes
and destroying vital crops.
In
Mexico the death toll has risen to at least 21 people in widespread
flooding over the past few days and another 13,000 are homeless,
authorities told Reforma and Universal newspapers Sunday.
Forecasters
expected more rain, which would complicate efforts to recover from the
flooding.
Heavy
rains have caused widespread flooding in north-central Mexico, with
many of the deaths coming after flood waters inundated dams in the
states of Zacatecas and San Luis Potosi.
The
catastrophes come just days before some 50,000 delegates gather in
Johannesburg for the U.N. Earth Summit to consider the effects of
development on the environment.
Meanwhile
in the Algerian capital Algiers, five people have been killed in
southeastern part of the city after torrential rains sparked flooding
in the Aures region, newspapers reported on Monday.
Two
women drowned after being swept away by flood waters in the towns of
Oued Aouf and Taxent, while in Oum el-Bouaghi, two men and a teenage
boy drowned after several streams burst their banks, the papers said.
The
heavy rains, which lasted several hours, also damaged crops, houses
and roads, the papers reported. The authorities have not released an
official statement on the flooding or number of victims.
Flooding
in southeastern South Africa also claimed a girl’s life at the
weekend, bringing the death toll after three days of torrential rains
to at least five, police said Monday, August 19.
Captain
Mpofana Skwatsha said the body of a girl - who went missing when a
four-wheel-drive vehicle with a couple and four children was swept off
a low-level bridge on the road to a ski resort on Sunday - was
recovered that night near the bridge. Two adults and two children were
saved from the car.
Police
divers and members of the canine unit were still searching for a
second missing girl, he said.
