German Chancellor Angela Merkelmet with the cabinet in Berlin on Wednesday in order to approve an enormous emergency relief package to rebuild Germany's flood-ravaged regions.

The worst flooding in living memory killed at least 169 in Germany late last week. And including numbers from neighboring Belgium and the Netherlands, the death toll rises to over 200.

The damage caused bythe torrential rainsshocked officialsand left residents reeling as they seek to rebuild their lives.

After the cabinet meeting, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said that the federal government agreed to allocate €200 million in emergency aid funding.

German news agency dpa had earlier reported thatan initial relief package of €400 million ($471 million) wasexpected, with half coming from the federal government and the rest from stategovernments.

Later on, a much larger package worth billions to rebuild essential infrastructureis anticipated. While thedamage is still being assessed, it is believed the damage to roads and rail networks will tally up tobe at least €2 billion.

The money will be drawn from federal and regional budgets. Germany is also considering requesting relief from the EU Solidarity Fund.

A policeman looks at a piece of road that has sunken in the city of Altenahr, Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany

Floods thrust climate change into the campaign

With Merkel about to step down as chancellor afterthe next general election in September, the contest to replace her at the helm continues, with the candidates to succeed her pitching their lines against the new backdrop of a potentially climate change-induced extreme weather event.

Merkel and NRW's state premier Armin Laschet visit the flood-ravaged city of Iversheim on Tuesday

In a visit to the heart of the disaster zonein the medieval town of Bad Münstereifel Tuesday, Merkel was joined by North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) state premier Armin Laschet, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) chair and current frontrunner to replace Merkel as chancellor.

Merkel promised the federal government would work as fast as possible to deliver aid to the devastated areas where some victims were quite literally "left with nothing but the clothes on their backs."She said she hoped to get aid to people within "a matter of days".