VIDEO SHOWS: LOW WATER LEVELS AT NEUSS REVEALING SUNKEN FISHING BOAT / LOW WATER LEVELS IN WORMS REVEALING HUNGER STONES, HARBINGER OF DROUGHT-INDUCED FAMINE / SOUNDBITES FROM LOCALS

STORY: Low water levels on the Rhine are revealing hidden sights in Germany, including an old sunken fishing boat. The fishing boat discovered in Neuss was used in the 1990s, but now serves as a warning of low water levels in the Rhine. The boat was last visible in 2022. Other stark markers of the current drought can be found in Worms with the hunger stones. The stones are hydrological landmarks, put into rivers and other waters during droughts, to warn future generations of the potential of drought-induced famines to come. Germany, like much of Europe, has experienced successive heat waves with little rainfall this summer, leading to low water levels on waterways like the Rhine, an important shipping route for grains, minerals, coal and refined oil products. (Camera/Schnitt: Erol Dogrudogan, Stephane Nitschke, Marco Öhmer, Andreas Bürger, Production/Text: Anna Dittrich)

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: NEUSS, GERMANY (AUGUST 4, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. DRONE SHOT OF OLD EEL SKIPPER IN LOW WATER, WHICH USED TRAWLS TO CATCH EELS AND OTHER FISH

2. VARIOUS OF FISHING BOAT

3. DRONE SHOT OF FISHING BOAT

4. VARIOUS OF FISHING BOAT

5. DRONE SHOT OF FISHING BOAT

WORMS, GERMANY (AUGUST 4, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

6. WOMAN WALKING ON THE PATH / NIBELUNGEN BRIDGE OVER THE RHINE

7. WATER LEVEL GAUGE IN WORMS

8. BOAT PASSING BY / MEASUREMENT STONE IN LOW WATER

9. MAN LOOKING AT RIVER

10. MEASUREMENT STONE

11. VARIOUS OF BOAT PASSING BY / HUNGER STONES, OLD LANDMARKS ERECTED TO WARN PEOPLE OF POTENTIAL DROUGHT-INDUCED FAMINE, WITH YEAR DATES, SUCH AS 1857 AND 1947 AMONG OTHERS MORE RECENT YEARS

12. VARIOUS OF MAN, WOMAN AND YOUNG BOY EATING ICE CREAM

13. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE DRINKING WATER AND EATING ICE CREAM

14. (SOUNDBITE) (German) PASSER-BY, CHRISTIAN STAERKE, SAYING:

"But this month is so extreme—the prolonged heat. It’s not just a brief spell of 40 degrees or something. We’ve had this heat for—I think—over eight weeks now. Yeah, it’s scary. Of course it’s scary."

15. (SOUNDBITE) (German) PASSER-BY, KARL MELL, SAYING:

"It’s starting to look pretty bad. Hopefully, it doesn’t get that much worse every year. You can really feel it."

16. (SOUNDBITE) (German) PASSER-BY, JANNEKE KRATZBERG, SAYING:

"I mean, the water level of the Rhine has been a bit low for quite a while now, too. That does worry me a bit. But yeah, we’ll see."

17. VARIOUS OF MAN WADING THROUGH WATER IN RHINE/ BOAT PASSING BY