Firefighters evacuate local residents from a street flooded the night before by the nearby Weisse Elster river in the city center on Monday, June 3, in Zeitz, Germany. 
A mannequin floats in the flooded center of the town of Grimma on June 3, in Germany. Heavy rains are pounding southern and eastern Germany, causing wide-spread flooding and ruining crops. 
Firefighters and helpers evacuate inhabitants in the flooded city center in Grimma, Germany. 
General view of downtown Passau, flooded by the rising river Inn, photo taken from the Inn bridge on June 3, in Passau, Germany. 
A rescuer navigates through an flooded street in Passau, southern Germany. 
An aerial view shows the old city in Passau, flooded due to heavy and ongoing rainfalls. 
Heavy rainfall has caused severe flooding in Central Europe in the past week, including parts of the Czech Republic, Austria, and Germany. A closed pedestrian bridge is seen here over the Danube river in Vienna, Austria, on June 3. 
Flooded bars and restaurants are seen on the shores of the Danube river in Vienna on Monday. Much of the western provinces of Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Salzburg, as well as northern Upper Austria are under flood alert. 
Youth pose for photos as they stand on a flooded trash bin by the shores of the Danube river in Vienna on Monday. 
An aerial view of the flooded city of Passau in southern Germany on Monday. 
Rescue workers paddle through the flooded streets of the historic city center in Passau, Germany, on Monday. Heavy rains have caused widespread flooding and damaged crops in southern and eastern Germany. 
A woman wades through a flooded street in Passau, Germany, on Monday. 
Evacuees forced to flee the rising floodwaters of the Weisse Elster river sit on mattresses at an evacuation center in a school gymnasium on Monday in Zeitz, Germany. 
Volunteers with the Johanniter charity prepare cheese and ham for the evacuees in Zeitz, Germany. Thousands fled the the rising floodwaters of the Weisse Elster river. 
Evacuees sit in emergency accommodation near the flooded city center in Grimma, Germany, on Monday. 
Czech army personnel build anti-flood barriers on the bank of flooded Vltava river on Monday in Prague. Metro stations and schools were shut after the Vltava river rose, flooding parts of the historic city center. 
A flooded road is seen on Monday in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. 
A flooded restaurant is pictured in Prague on Monday. 
- Southern and eastern Germany, including Bavaria and Saxony, are affected by floods
- River levels are also high in Austria and the Czech Republic
- A state of emergency is in place in most of Bohemia, the western part of the Czech Republic
- Seven people have died in the Czech Republic, a fire service spokeswoman says
(CNN) -- Swaths of Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria were menaced by rising rivers Tuesday, as flood waters inundated historic cities and forced mass evacuations of low-lying areas.
The floods are feared to be the worst since 2002, when parts of Germany and the Czech Republic were devastated and communities in Austria, Slovakia, Russia and Romania were affected.
Southern and eastern areas of Germany, including Bavaria and Saxony, are among the regions worst affected by recent heavy rains.
Images from Passau, in southern Bavaria, show dirty brown water running through the streets of the historic old town.
The Czech Republic is also on alert as river levels climb.
A state of emergency is in place in most of Bohemia, the western part of the country, said Nicole Zaoralova, a spokeswoman for the Czech Fire Department.
Seven people have died as a result of the latest flooding, she said. Among the victims, two people died in a house collapse, one woman died when she was hit by a falling tree and another person was electrocuted.
Most of northern Bohemia, around the Vltava and Labe rivers, remains at risk of flooding, she said.
"We have evacuated 10,000 people so far," said Zaoralova.
In Usti nad Labem, in northern Bohemia, many households are without electricity. Melnik, 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Prague, was being evacuated Tuesday morning.
The Berounka River, which flows into the Vltava, peaked overnight, prompting officials to raise anti-flood barriers in Prague to a level intended to cope with "100-year" floods.
So far, however, the Vltava River has not reached the level of the devastating floods of 11 years ago, Zaoralova said.
Transportation is severely disrupted in the capital, Prague, as well as other parts of Bohemia, she said. But while several metro stations in Prague have been closed, the subway system has not been flooded as it was in 2002, she said, thanks to a flood barrier system put in place since then.
"We do not expect the situation in Prague to become worse," she said.
Prague resident Katerina Netikova has spent the past two days helping volunteer efforts to stave off the worst of the flooding, coordinated by authorities and local people using social media.
On Sunday, she headed to the suburban town of Radotin, on the Berounka River, where residents directed the efforts.
"They knew exactly what is needed, where people should go and what should they do. They had the experience from previous flooding (in 2002). They were securing the town, putting barriers where needed," Netikova told CNN.
On Monday, she spent the night working at a fire station in central Prague, near the most badly affected areas of the Holesovice neighborhood, helping to make flood barriers -- heavy-duty tube-shaped sacks filled with sand.
"It's hard work, because the sand is wet and gets really heavy," Netikova said. "People were rotating the whole night -- students from nearby university halls, Scouts, local people and more volunteers sent in by the town.
"The firefighters just told them what to do, and then the volunteers organized everything among themselves."
04 Jun, 2013
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Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFGALdNKFJ72409vSesN10txeT9ug&url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/04/world/europe/europe-flood/
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