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European Floods
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9051268/ Southern Bavaria, Austria, and Switzerland just had real bad floods...... I hope everyone that is in the region with their new cars is ok. I leave on Saturday and was planning on staying in Innsbruck/Hall on Monday. There is a lot of damage from the flooding along the Rivers. Good luck to everyone....  | | Reply » European Floods |
Anyone have any more info on the situation over there?
All I found was this:
South German towns brace for disaster amid record floods
08.24.2005, 07:13 AM
MUNICH (AFX) - Record flooding in southern Germany surged downstream from the Alps as rescue workers and volunteers raced to save cities and towns in its path.
As the worst appeared to be over in the Alpine region, residents along the Danube, Inn and Isar rivers braced for disaster while thousands of people helped heave sandbags to shore up straining dams.
The Bavarian cities of Regensburg and Passau and the Straubing, Kehlheim and Neuburg looked set to bear the brunt of the raging waters. In several areas, the level of the river broke records set in 1999.
The Danube burst its banks at Neu-Ulm, prompting authorities to rush patients at a hospital and residents of a retirement home to safety.
Helpers scrambled throughout the night in the districts of Guenzburg and Dillingen to secure a dam.
'If the dam breaks, two towns will have to be partly evacuated,' a police spokesman said.
As relief efforts moved into a higher gear, the flooded regions became a campaign battleground with candidates in next month's general election lining up to visit stricken areas.
Bavarian premier Edmund Stoiber of the opposition conservative Christian Union was to meet with volunteers in Sonthofen in the Allgaeu region while Interior Minister Otto Schily of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats was to get an overview of the catastrophe on a helicopter tour.
Schroeder, who was able to rescue his re-election bid in 2002 with his deft management of a flooding crisis in the east of the country, is to visit the state himself tomorrow. Germany goes to the polls on Sept 18.
Torrential downpours abated overnight providing relief in the Alpine region near the Austrian border.
Residents began clean-up work as hundreds of people who had been evacuated from the town of Bad Toelz returned to their homes early today.
The waters gradually receded from the valley surrounding the popular ski resort Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the town of Eschenlohe, which were cut off from the outside world yesterday.
The motorway connecting the Bavarian state capital Munich with the city of Stuttgart to the northwest reopened in both directions after a section was closed yesterday.
dlc/ef/ss/lam
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Copyright AFX News Limited 2005. All rights reserved.
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Freak weather batters Europe
By Jenny Booth, Times Online
Extreme weather is afflicting Europe, with swaths of Portugal and Spain ablaze in the drought while Austria and Switzerland suffer floods after torrential rain.
Temperatures of 43C coupled with strong winds during the worst drought on record have fanned the flames of the forest fires which have been raging out of control across Portugal for several weeks.
Pope Benedict XVI, a Bavarian, said in his weekly general audience in the Vatican that he felt spiritually close to the victims facing such "tragic hardship".
He said: "My thoughts go to the regions of Europe hit in recent days by floods and fires which unfortunately have caused victims and great damage."
The Portuguese Government has appealed for help from other countries in tackling the fires, admitting that its own resources were not enough.
Helicopters from France and Italy have been dumping water on vast blazes like the 21km wall of flames near Mirando di Corvo, a mountain town north of Lisbon.
This morning, thick fog rolled in over the town before dawn, mingling with the smoke and hampering the helicopters by reducing visibility. Weather forecasters said, however, that the blanket of damp mist would help exhausted firefighters in their task of putting out the blazes.
Mario Lourenco, the head of the volunteer firefighters from nearby Penela, said that the fire was still not under control. "We're going to have faith and have hope that there will be no wind, because in fact the wind has improved," he said. "The intensity of the blaze is diminishing considerably."
Five major fires continue to blaze in the centre and north of the country, but that number is down from the 21 that were deemed out of control yesterday. Vast tracts of forest have been destroyed, but the firefighters have largely succeeded in keeping the fires away from major towns.
Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes, and 14 people have died, including ten firefighters. The Portuguese government says many of the fires have been started deliberately, and police have made more than 100 arrests. One man arrested yesterday was a former volunteer firefighter.
Meanwhile, heavy rainfall in the Alps has caused a number of rivers to burst their banks, flooding Alpine valleys. Parts of the Swiss capital, Bern, are under several feet of water.
Seven people have died in Switzerland so far and three are confirmed dead in Austria, with a fourth missing, feared drowned. Rescue helicopters plucked stranded people from the roofs of their homes today as strong currents prevented rescue boats from reaching homes.
"We just can't get through (with boats) anymore. The current is just too strong," said Thomas Jeuch, a police spokesman in Bern.
Roads and railways have been blocked by landslides and floodwaters, communications and power lines are down and airports have been forced to shut.
Drinking water supplies have been contaminated in the Swiss tourist resort of Lucerne. Water levels are continuing to rise, and more rain is forecast for coming days.
The Austrian Government has held an emergency meeting to agree aid packages for farmers and homeowners. Soldiers have joined with 17,000 firefighters to begin the clean up and repairs, pumping out cellars and clearing mud from bridges, roads and railtracks.
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This is the normal ED "playground." I really feel for the people there. Keep them in your prayers.
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Wow this is awful.
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My husband had to pick up a guy from Munich at SFO last night (a business thing). The guy's father works for the streets dept in Munich and had been up all night filling sandbags...
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European Floods