Germany steps up evacuations

Floods Swamp Central Europe : The high tide scale of the river Elbe that flooded north of Magdeburg in Germany, inset, firefighters use a boat to search for residents. PHOTO: AFP, Reuters

German authorities urged 15,000 more people to flee their homes in a city on the swollen Elbe river on Sunday as central Europe's worst floods in a decade also threatened Hungary after causing havoc in the Czech Republic and Austria.

Floods Swamp Central Europe : The high tide scale of the river Elbe that flooded north of Magdeburg in Germany, inset, firefighters use a boat to search for residents. PHOTO: AFP, Reuters

The river Danube reached a new record high in Budapest but the Hungarian capital's mayor sought to ease concerns, saying water levels were stabilising, although about 1,200 people were evacuated along the river. The deluge has also sparked massive emergency responses in Austria and Slovakia.
A torrent of flood waters in Germany has turned vast areas into a brown water world, sparked a mass mobilisation of emergency workers and caused billions of euros in damage in what one lawmaker termed a "national catastrophe".