Merkel Calls Europe Flooding 'Terrifying,' as Death Toll Nears 200

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday the recent flooding in Europe is “terrifying” and promised swift financial assistance for one of the hardest hit regions in her country. 

"The German language can barely describe the devastation that's taken place,” she said as the death toll reached 184 across Europe, including 157 in Germany.  As rescue workers continued their search for missing people, a district in Bavaria in southern Germany was hit by flash flooding that killed at least one person. Roads turned into rivers, with vehicles swept away by the rapid currents and wide swaths of land buried in mud near the border with Austria.  “We were not prepared for this," said Berchtesgadener Land district administrator Bernhard Kern. He said the situation deteriorated "drastically" late Saturday, leaving little time for emergency services to act.