The German chancellor said flooding in the south of the country was a call to action on the climate crisis, as the death toll from the disaster rose and thousands faced another night out of their homes.
At least four people have died, others are missing and thousands have been forced to evacuate after torrential rain at the weekend caused widespread flooding in Bavaria.
Speaking on Monday on a visit to Reichertshofen, in a flood-hit area north of Munich, Olaf Scholz said such floods were no longer a “one-off”.
“This is an indication that something is up here. We must not neglect the task of stopping man-made climate change,” he told journalists. The floods were “a warning that we must take with us”, he added.
The Bavarian state premier, Markus Söeder, who accompanied Scholz on his visit, said there was no “full insurance” against climate change.
“Events are happening here that have never happened before,” Soeder said, after a state of emergency was declared by districts across Bavaria.
The flooding, which comes a fortnight before Germany hosts the Euro 2024 football championships, raised concerns about transport infrastructure around the tournament.
While no matches are due to be held in the affected areas, it has been suggested that the disruption caused by the flooding could have a knock-on effect on hundreds of thousands of football fans as they travel to venues across the country.
The flooding has left four people dead, with others still missing. Over the weekend, a volunteer firefighter died while trying to rescue trapped people.
Police in Baden-Württemberg said on Monday that a man and a woman had been found dead in the basement of their house in Schorndorf. The same fate befell a 43-year-old woman in Schrobenhausen, whose body was found by rescuers.
Another volunteer, 22, was still missing after his boat overturned overnight into Sunday. A search operation to find the missing rescue worker had to be stopped due to the exceptionally high waters and strong currents, police said.
The historic city of Regensburg, with a population of 150,000, announced a state of emergency on Monday as the water reached a critical point amid fears that record deluges of 2013 and 2002 could be repeated.
German military and the national relief organisation, THW, were in the area helping to rescue people and clearing dangerous obstacles.
Passengers stranded on Sunday night were given refuge in trains in Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Munich.
While in Upper Bavaria, Scholz expressed his gratitude to the thousands of rescue workers, saying they had “tried to prevent the worst from happening and to save lives”. He promised central government support to help the flooded areas and said this was the fourth time he had visited a flood-stricken region this year. “This shows how the situation has changed due to climate change,” he said.
Farmers’ representatives warned that the flood waters could have a devastating impact on this year’s harvest.
Environmentalists called for a greater willingness among politicians and the population at large to recognise the link between the high rains and floods and climate change.
Nancy Faeser, the interior minister, said the mechanisms of the rescue effort had improved since the devastating flooding of the Ahrtal region in the Rhineland Palatinate three years ago, when 135 people lost their lives and about 17,000 people were left homeless.
“I think we’re functioning far better now in terms of coordination, and in our cooperation,” she said.
Some political leaders are calling for the introduction of a solidarity-based flood insurance premium for all households in Germany, regardless of whether they are in areas at high risk of flooding or not.
Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report.
