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Floodwaters heading towards Germany

DDP/The Local
DDP/The Local - [email protected]
Floodwaters heading towards Germany
Bundeswehr officials check Oder dikes on Wednesday in Brandenburg. Photo: DPA

Deadly floods that have hit eastern and central Europe are expected to reach Germany over the weekend though with less intensity, authorities said on Wednesday.

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High water will reach the German section of the Oder River in the eastern state of Brandenburg over the Pentecost holiday weekend, according to projections based on measurements near Racibórz, the most southerly water gauge on the Polish section of the river.

Levels there remained high but constant on both Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the Brandenburg state environmental agency. At 8.84 metres high, they are still about 1.6 metres below levels that caused devastating floods in 1997.

Though upriver gauges in central Poland water showed levels above high water warning levels on Tuesday, the Brandenburg agency said it did not expect an equally bad surge by the time the floodwaters reach Germany.

Heavy rains near the Oder headwaters and beyond have been blamed for massive flooding in southern Poland. In Krakow hundreds of people had to be rescued after a dam on the Vistula River broke.

Meanwhile at least seven people were reported dead and thousand left without electricity or evacuated in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Serbia and Hungary.

Click here for The Local's weather forecast.

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