Over 30 dead, dozens missing in heavy floods in Europe

More than 30 people have died and dozens are missing in Germany and neighboring Belgium as heavy flooding turned streams and

streets into raging torrents that swept away cars and toppled houses.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed shock at the scope of the flooding and the number of deaths, adding: ``We still don't

know the number. But it will be many.''

Police said 18 people died in Ahrweiler county, south of Euskirchen, with up to 70 reported missing after several homes collapsed in the village of Schuld, southwest of Cologne.

Authorities in the western German region of Euskirchen said reported eight deaths.

Some villages were reduced to rubble in the rush of water.