Europe flood death toll tops 160

More casualties are feared in Germany, Belgium as rescue workers clear debris

Rescue workers laboured to clear up damage laid bare by receding water on Saturday as the death toll from disastrous flooding in Western Europe touched 168.

Soldiers of the German armed forces Bundeswehr search for flood victims in submerged vehicles on the federal highway B265 in Erftstadt, western Germany. (AFP)

The death toll in western Germany’s Rhineland-Palatinate state, home to the badly hit Ahrweiler county, rose to 98.

Another 43 people were confirmed dead in neighbouring North Rhine-Westphalia state. Belgium’s national crisis centre said the country’s confirmed death toll rose to 27.

By Saturday, authorities still feared finding more people dead as the receding floodwaters eased access across much of the affected regions and revealed the extent of the damage.

“A lot of people have lost everything they spent their lives building up - their possessions, their home, the roof over their heads,” German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on a visit to the town of Erftstadt. “It may only be possible to clear up in weeks how much damage needs to be compensated.”

Across the border in eastern Belgium, train lines and roads remained blocked in many areas. Southern parts of the Netherlands also have been hit by heavy flooding.

In Switzerland, heavy rain has caused several rivers and lakes to burst their banks, with authorities in the city of Lucerne closing several pedestrian bridges over the Reuss river.