Germany’s Merkel Pledges Fast Help in ‘Terrifying’ Record Floods

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Rhineland-Palatinate State Premier Malu Dreyer talk to residents standing amid debris during their visit in the flood-ravaged village of Schuld near Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Rhineland-Palatinate state, on Germany, on July 18, 2021. Christof Stache/Pool via Reuters

German Chancellor Angela Merkel promised fast financial aid on Sunday after visiting one of the areas worst affected by record floods that have killed at least 157 people in the country over past days.

“We are by your side,” Merkel told residents of the small town Adenau in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, calling the situation there “terrifying”.