Floods generate 4 decades’ worth of junk in German valley

BERLIN (AP) — Authorities say that hundreds of thousands of tons of junk have been removed from a valley in western Germany since it was devastated by flooding in mid-July, equivalent to four decades’ worth of garbage. More than 180 people died in Germany and hundreds more were injured in the July 14-15 floods, which also claimed lives in neighboring Belgium. The narrow Ahr valley suffered the most destruction. The local administration in Ahrweiler, near Bonn, said Friday that more than 300,000 metric tons (330,000 tons) of bulky waste have been recovered from the Ahr valley since the floods. It said that is the same as 40 years’ worth of junk under normal circumstances.