Record floods threatened a string of historic towns in Germany as well as Hungary's capital yesterday after ravaging vast swathes of central Europe in the past week, claiming nearly 100 lives.
Central European leaders were due to meet yesterday in Berlin to discuss the huge costs of the path of destruction wrought across Germany, Russia, Austria and the Czech Republic.
Tens of thousands of Germans have been evacuated and many lost their homes as a flood wave surged down the River Elbe, wreaking havoc in the eastern architectural jewel of Dresden on its way to an eventual exit to the sea in northern Hamburg.
Evacuations and hasty flood defense work were carried out in Bitterfeld, where chemical plants pose an environmental threat; Torgau, best known as the place where US and Soviet forces met on the Elbe in World War II and Wittenberg, where theologian Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the city's church doors.
As Danube river water rose rapidly in Hungary, flood defenses were being strengthened between the Slovak border and Budapest, where levels were expected to peak last night. Officials said they believed the city's 10m high defenses would hold.
In Germany, the floods dealt a harsh blow to Dresden, which is still trying to repair the scars of the massive 1945 bombing by US and British planes that destroyed most of the city. But the most pressing dangers moved to cities downstream.
Thousands were evacuated from the industrial town of Bitterfeld in eastern Germany amid fears of an environmental disaster if water from a burst dam reached nearby chemical plants. They were still dry yesterday.
Officials said the situation was critical in Torgau, where the water reached its high point yesterday after about 10,000 people were evacuated.
Further downstream, authorities in the northern region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern said they may have to evacuate 30,000 people, while the environment ministry in the central town of Hanover said the waters may not reach their region until the middle of next week.
While officials still braced for more floodwaters, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was to meet leaders from Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia in Berlin yesterday. European Commission President Romano Prodi was also expected to attend.
The European Investment Bank said it would offer stricken countries across central Europe millions of euros in loans to finance state spending on repairing flood damage.
Some estimate overall costs in Germany at more than 10 billion euros. Dresden's mayor estimated the damage in the hundreds of millions of euros for Dresden alone.
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