River levels have peaked in Dresden and other cities in eastern Germany but will remain dangerously high for days to come, while to the north and east on the Elbe and Danube people are bracing for the full force of deadly floods that have swallowed up swathes of central Europe.
In Dresden and Halle, where thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes, officials said a massive effort by emergency workers and armies of volunteers had helped to prevent catastrophic damage to the historic hearts of both cities.
The Elbe climbed to a height of almost 9 metres in Dresden – compared to its normal level of about 2 metres – but flood defences averted any repeat of a 2002 inundation that did major damage to the baroque city centre.
Huge pressure
Experts said water levels in affected areas around Dresden and Halle are now expected to slowly fall, but dykes and sandbag walls will remain under huge pressure until the rivers have dropped considerably and standing water has cleared.
Other parts of Germany are still in danger, however, as the flood-wave surges along the Elbe towards the North Sea and along the Danube towards its eventual outlet in the Black Sea. In the town of Bitterfeld on the Mulde river – a tributary of the Elbe – workers tried with limited success to use controlled explosions to alleviate pressure in two large lakes, which they fear could inundate the town if they burst their banks.
German chancellor Angela Merkel, who has pledged €100 million for her country’s clean-up operation, visited the town yesterday. In the Bavarian district of Deggendorf, more than 4,000 people have been evacuated after dykes along the Danube failed, submerging several villages.
“It’s indescribably bad,” said Bavarian governor Horst Seehofer. “It’s beyond comparison.” It is too early to assess the material cost of the floods – which have killed at least 16 people – but the 2002 deluge caused damage across central Europe amounting to some €20 billion.
Water levels were also gradually falling in most affected areas of the Czech Republic, but Slovakia and Hungary still face major problems from a steadily rising Danube. Hungary now has about 9,000 people trying to shore up dykes, and another 16,000 emergency workers, soldiers and police on stand-by to assist if necessary. The Danube is not expected to reach its peak in Budapest until Monday.