BERLIN, June 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Flood waters are continuing to rise in parts of southern Germany, and are now spreading down the Danube to Austria and Hungary.
Five people are now known to have died since heavy rain led to rivers bursting their banks in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
One of the victims was a woman who died when her car left the road and became submerged west of Munich. A Bavarian firefighter is missing.
Although the Germand DWD weather service has declared an end to the torrential rain that has hit southern Germany for days, water levels in the historic city of Passau, where three rivers meet, have now risen close to 10m (32ft), the highest for more than a decade.
River levels on the Danube have also been rising in Austria and Hungary.
The Danube burst its banks in Austria’s third-largest city Linz leaving areas close to the river banks submerged.
Local resident Gertrude told the Kurier website that the flooding brought back bad memories from August 2002 when a fifth of the city was left underwater.
The river reached 6.86m on Tuesday morning and was expected to peak during the afternoon.
All river traffic along the Danube was brought to a standstill in the Lower Austria area.
In Hungary, forecasters warned of significant rainfall in the coming three days and Gabriella Siklos of the National Water Directorate warned the situation was changing by the hour.
There were also concerns that the rising water levels would spread to the Danube floodplain in Slovakia.
Cargo shipping remains halted on the Rhine in some areas of southern Germany, although authorities in Baden-Württemberg in the south west say water levels are set to fall in the coming days.
Torrential rain has fallen for days in much of southern Germany and a state of emergency has been declared in the Rosenheim area of Bavaria.
Three people have now died in Bavaria, and a man and a woman were found dead in their basement in Baden-Württemberg on Monday. A 22-year-old firefighter is missing in Bavaria.
Bavarian state premier Markus Söder has described the situation as “serious and critical”.
In some areas of southern Germany, experts spoke of once-in-a-century levels of rainfall.
Cars were swept away and residential areas were flooded, although by Tuesday morning all severe weather warnings in southern Germany were lifted.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that the flooding in the south is a reminder that “halting man-made climate change” cannot be neglected. — NNN-AGENCIES