Earth Watch Report - Flooding
Firefighters and volunteers in Nagymaros lay sandbags to keep the flood waters at bay
....| 10.06.2013 | Flood | Germany | Saxony-Anhalt, Magdeburg [Elbe River] |  |  |
Flood in Germany on Sunday, 09 June, 2013 at 09:43 (09:43 AM) UTC.
Back| Updated: | Sunday, 09 June, 2013 at 09:45 UTC |
| Description | |
| More than 80,000 emergency personnel including firefighters and soldiers were on duty Saturday, working aggressively to contain the most dramatic floods in Germany in a decade. Thousands of residents were still unable to return to their homes, and bridges and streets were impassable in many regions of eastern and southern Germany. Twenty people reportedly have already died in the floods across central Europe after several days of heavy rains. Thousands have been put up in emergency shelters waiting for the waters to recede so they can get back to their homes. German news agency dpa said people in Magdeburg in Saxony-Anhalt were anxiously waiting downstream as the crest of the Elbe river approached Saturday. Authorities evacuated a nursing home and turned off electricity in several parts of the city. Where the Saale river meets the Elbe, about 3,000 people had to leave their homes. "The coming days will be extreme and difficult," Magdeburg's mayor, Lutz Truemper, told news agency dpa. | |
Flood in Germany on Sunday, 09 June, 2013 at 09:43 (09:43 AM) UTC.
Back| Updated: | Monday, 10 June, 2013 at 04:06 UTC |
| Description | |
| German authorities have urged more than 15,000 people to evacuate the eastern city of Magdeburg has flood levels reached record levels. Meanwhile, people in Budapest are bracing as the surging Danube approaches. The water level of the Elbe river in Magdeburg Sunday reached nearly 7.4 meters (24 feet), up from the normal level of two meters. The peak level was 70 centimeters above that reached during the last catastrophic floods in 2002, when the river's maximum was 6.72 meters. "We hope that the dikes will withstand the pressure over the coming days, but we can't be 100 percent sure," said fire service spokesman Andreas Hamann, who is one of 1,200 emergency staff working in the area. Flooding in Germany and across central Europe has caused billions of euros of damage and killed at least 18 people. The evacuations in Magdeburg were described as a precaution, but a city spokesman said "people really are supposed to leave" when confronted with danger. A total of 23,000 have been asked to evacuate the city this weekend. | |
Thousands flee flood-hit parts of Germany and Hungary
Thousands have had to leave their homes, as Stephen Evans reports
Some
23,000 people were forced to leave their homes in the east German city
of Magdeburg after a dam burst on the flood-swollen River Elbe.
Although
water levels in Magdeburg were reported to be subsiding on Monday,
other parts of the state of Saxony-Anhalt remain under threat.In Hungary, 1,200 people had to leave their homes but in the capital Budapest flood defences appear to have held.
At least 18 people have died in the floods in Central Europe.
Analysts say the damage will cost billions of euros to clean up.
The authorities in Germany are investigating an anonymous letter threatening attacks on several dams.
The motive behind the threats is not known, but the threat is being taken seriously, says the BBC's Stephen Evans in Berlin.
Sandbags
With levels on the Danube peaking, the mayor of Budapest sought to reassure the city's inhabitants and said leaking dykes had been fixed.
"Budapest is not at risk of a catastrophe, the level is not expected to rise significantly," Istvan Tarlos said.
Firefighters and volunteers in Nagymaros lay sandbags to keep the flood waters at bay
More than 1,200 people have been evacuated from their homes along the river, although no flood-related deaths have yet been reported in Hungary.
In Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt state, more than 23,000 people left their homes on Sunday as flood waters rose to 7.44m (24ft), nearly four times higher than normal (2m).
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- Thousands of Germans evacuate as dam on Elbe river breaks (reuters.com)
- Thousands of Germans evacuate as dam on Elbe river breaks - Yahoo! News (2012indyinfo.com)
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