Death toll hits 10 in European flooding
Source: Agencies |
June 5, 2013, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
GERMANY dispatched thousands of soldiers yesterday to help cities and towns cope with flooding from the rain-soaked Danube and other southern rivers - reinforcements that came a day after the Bavarian city of Passau saw its worst flooding since 1501.
The death toll rose to at least 10, including seven in the neighboring Czech Republic, where a man was found dead in the water in eastern Bohemia. Another nine people have been reported missing in the floods also sweeping through Austria and Switzerland.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel toured flooded German regions, pledging at least 50 million euros (US$65 million) in immediate federal help and holding out the possibility for more. She told reporters in Passau, a city of 50,000 on the Austrian border, that the damage looked worse than during the massive flooding that hit central Europe in 2002.
Some 4,000 German soldiers were called in as well as more than 2,000 federal disaster workers and 600 federal police to sandbag areas in danger of flooding and provide other assistance. Water levels were still rising in major rivers such as the Danube and Elbe as well as tributaries.
In the Czech Republic, authorities evacuated animals from the Prague zoo and closed a major bridge in the capital yesterday.
The rain in Prague has halted but the Vltava river that runs through the city and flows into the Elbe was still raging, with currents and water levels far exceeding the norm. The famous Charles Bridge was closed as a precaution.
On the outskirts of Prague, a major Staropramen beer brewery on the river bank was closed as a protective measure - as were several major chemical factories. One of them - Spolana - released dangerous toxic chemicals into the Elbe during the devastating floods of 2002.
Authorities said the level of the Vltava in Prague is dropping but excess water was expected to soon hit the Elba river.
The death toll rose to at least 10, including seven in the neighboring Czech Republic, where a man was found dead in the water in eastern Bohemia. Another nine people have been reported missing in the floods also sweeping through Austria and Switzerland.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel toured flooded German regions, pledging at least 50 million euros (US$65 million) in immediate federal help and holding out the possibility for more. She told reporters in Passau, a city of 50,000 on the Austrian border, that the damage looked worse than during the massive flooding that hit central Europe in 2002.
Some 4,000 German soldiers were called in as well as more than 2,000 federal disaster workers and 600 federal police to sandbag areas in danger of flooding and provide other assistance. Water levels were still rising in major rivers such as the Danube and Elbe as well as tributaries.
In the Czech Republic, authorities evacuated animals from the Prague zoo and closed a major bridge in the capital yesterday.
The rain in Prague has halted but the Vltava river that runs through the city and flows into the Elbe was still raging, with currents and water levels far exceeding the norm. The famous Charles Bridge was closed as a precaution.
On the outskirts of Prague, a major Staropramen beer brewery on the river bank was closed as a protective measure - as were several major chemical factories. One of them - Spolana - released dangerous toxic chemicals into the Elbe during the devastating floods of 2002.
Authorities said the level of the Vltava in Prague is dropping but excess water was expected to soon hit the Elba river.
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