2021 Europe Flood Relief Fund

A major storm system stalled over Western Europe on July 14-15, leading to record-setting rain over Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, France and the Netherlands. Some parts of Germany received two months of rain in 24-48 hours, leading to rivers overtopping their banks, flash flooding through communities, and hundreds of people injured, missing or dead. The Ahr, Volme and Dussel rivers all overtopped their banks with record-setting water levels, which led to evacuation orders and emergency declarations in multiple cities. As the water continued to flow downstream, it filled dams past their capacity, leading to more evacuations as infrastructure was stretched – sometimes beyond its breaking limit. There has been extensive damage to homes, businesses, and infrastructure in the worst natural disaster the region has faced in more than half a century.