Budapest braces for record flood as pressure eases in east Germany

The Danube is poised to reach record levels in Budapest and may force the evacuation of 55,000 people from their homes, Hungarian officials have said. Floods have killed at least 19 people and continue to wreak havoc across central Europe.

Floodwaters surging down the Elbe river in northern Germany reached their highest ever point in the medieval city of Magdeburg yesterday, as economists warned that the inundation could have caused about €11 billion of damage to the country.

More than 11,000 German soldiers have been mobilised to help fill sandbags, reinforce flood defences, erect emergency barriers and evacuate people, in the worst floods to hit central Europe since 2002, when the region’s bill for clean-up and repair ran to about €20 billion.

Dresden and Halle in eastern Germany were given some respite yesterday, when water levels fell slightly following days of work to protect their historic centres. Rivers were also stable or dropping slowly in most of the Czech Republic, where parts of the capital Prague were paralysed by floodwater earlier in the week.

Czech and German officials say river levels will remain extremely high, however, putting strain on saturated flood defences for days to come.

State of emergency
On the Danube, the main body of floodwater is now in Slovakia and Hungary, which have both declared states of emergency. In a government statement, prime minister Viktor Orban said "Hungary will face the highest flood wave of all time and should prepare for the worst . . . Unfortunately, the Danube water levels measured at the border have already exceeded all-time highs."

He also “asked all Hungarians to co-operate in efforts to prevent the disaster”, as some 3,000 volunteers and 6,000 emergency workers helped to reinforce flood barriers beside the Danube.

The Hungarian army and police are also on standby to help, ahead of what is expected to be peak water on Monday. Budapest mayor Istvan Tarlos said about 55,000 people in northern suburb of Budapest would have to be evacuated if the Danube breached defences in the area.