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At least four people have died in heavy flooding in southern Germany, local police said on Monday. The floods follow exceptionally heavy rainfall, causing widespread evacuations and a state of emergency in several districts.
Around 3,000 people in Bavaria had to be evacuated due to the floods, authorities said on Sunday.
The German rail operator Deutsche Bahn advised against traveling to flood areas on Monday, since rail traffic has been severely impacted in parts of southern Germany. A high-speed train carrying 185 passengers derailed on Saturday due to a landslide, although no one was injured.
The upper part of the Rhine River, an important route for transporting goods, has been closed to inland shipping in order to prevent waves causing damage to neighboring houses. Several locations in Bavaria have reported burst dams on smaller rivers.
In 2021, major flooding hit parts of Europe, killing almost 200 people in Germany. Climate change is considered to play a major role in disasters of this kind.
Meanwhile, the weather situation in the affected regions remains tense. The German Meteorological Service has warned of “lively showers and thunderstorms or heavy continuous rain in places” over the course of the day.