Pictures of European floods

Hungary and the Czech Republic have declared states of emergency and the city of Budapest is under threat due to flooding from swollen rivers in Central Europe.

In the Hungarian capital, the Danube has reached a record 8.58 metres, flooding roads and tramlines around it and paralysing the transport network. The previous high in the capital was 8.48 metres during the catastrophic floods that hit central Europe in 2002.

Gabor Demszky, the mayor of Budapest, today called on drivers to use public transport during the flood crisis.

In all, Hungary has evacuated 516 people from their homes and over 11,500 houses are in danger of being flooded along stretches of the Danube and Ipoly rivers, affecting 32,600 inhabitants.

The situation is more acute in the Czech Republic, where seven of the 14 regions have declared a state of emergency thanks to the high levels of the river Elbe and other waterways.

Nearly 10,000 people have had to leave their homes, including around 1,000 in the north around the Czech city of Usti Nad Labem, and a further 1,000 around the town of Litomerice. With more heavy showers forecast for tomorrow it is likely to be days before evacuees will be able to leave emergency shelters.

Transport across the region has been disrupted with key roads cut by the rising flood water, and some of the region’s giant chemical companies have also been closed.

The level of the Elbe at Usti - the largest city in the region, with 100,000 inhabitants - fell by two cm (0.8 inches) to 8.83 metres (29 ft) in the five hours after midnight, according to the regional water authority.

"We cannot say the danger is over," said Milan Knotek, a spokesman for the city of Usti, in the region which has been hardest-hit. "Those people who have been evacuated will not be allowed back to their homes until the end of the week at the earliest."

The flooding, which started last week, was caused by quickly melting snow in the mountains and persistent rain. So far, it has not been as serious as flooding four years ago when flood waters devastated a large part of the Czech Republic, killing at least 16 people and causing nearly $2.5 billion in damage. At the time, the Elbe River reached 12 metres (40 ft) in some areas.

Unlike during the 2002 floods Prague has so far been spared any serious damage, although it remains on high alert. Frantisek Bublan, the Czech Minister of the Interior, gave warning that the situation could still worsen and threaten the capital.

Near the Czech city of Decin many homes and businesses were threatened by water or already flooded. Pumps have been working overtime at the now misleadingly named "Restaurant on the Elbe Beach" - the beach is already several metres under water.

"The damage is already 200,000 crowns and will certainly be more," said Frantisek Hrusova, 60, the restaurant’s co-owner, who stayed up with the pumps all night. "We were here in 2002 and here it is again in 2006."

He blamed the Government for failing to use the time in between to prepare better flood defences."Normal thinking people would have done something," he said.

The floods are already becoming a political issue ahead of general elections due in June. Decin’s deputy mayor, Vaclav Lesanovsky, stoked the controversy, saying: "Prague was the only place that has flood protection - nowhere else, not a metre. It is the fault of the central government. The financial demands are so heavy that towns and even regions cannot afford this on their own."

Jiri Paroubek, the Czech Prime Minister, said that the Government has already pledged 380 million crowns (€16.1 million) for the disaster. "But if that sum is not enough, we will seek alternative resources. I think that we will also turn to the European Union," Mr Paroubek said.

Bohuslav Sobotka, the Finance Minister, said that when the Cabinet meets tomorrow it will probably increase this year’s state budget by 5 billion crowns (€212 million) to pay for damages.

In the south-east of the country, the Morava River has burst its banks and flooded fields near the Austrian-Slovak border, forcing the evacuation of a nearby town in lower Austria. Additional soldiers have been drafted in to help reinforce weak spots.

Elsewhere, flooding was reported in Germany, Poland, Austria and Slovakia. Officials in the eastern German state of Saxony have ordered more than 1,000 people along the Elbe to leave their homes, including several hundred in the historic city of Dresden. The state of Saxony-Anhalt is also affected, with the Elbe flooding the inner city of Rosslau.

In Austria, a river dam burst yesterday forcing the partial evacuation of a village northeast of Vienna.

In neighboring Slovakia, some 1,300 houses in 200 towns and villages across the country were flooded so far, and 474 people were forced to leave their homes, the TASR news agency reported.

Floods across Central Europe in the last week have killed around a dozen people, disrupted transport and forced thousands to evacuate their homes.

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