The death toll from severe floods that swept Germany has risen to 156, the German news agency (DPA) reported Sunday, bringing the total death toll in Western Europe to approximately 183.

This is considered one of the worst disasters in Germany after World War II.

Heavy rains led to an unprecedented rise in water levels in lakes, which flooded cities and villages.

Previously, Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was “shocked” by the devastation wreaked by deadly flooding in western Germany.

“I am shocked by the disaster that so many people in flooded areas are suffering from,” she said in a statement tweeted by her spokesperson Steffen Seibert.