Flooding In Europe Worsens Dike Bursts In Eastern Germany; Total Of 2,600 People Evacuated

The dike along the rain-swollen Oder River burst Wednesday despite reinforcement by a million soggy sandbags, sending muddy water rushing into lowland villages.

Authorities evacuated about 300 residents after the dike broke and ordered another 2,300 to leave their homes as the surging waters spread. No injuries were reported.

Easing the overall pressure downstream a bit, Brandenburg state authorities decided not to try to plug the 500-foot gap created by the break, just south of Frankfurt an der Oder in eastern Germany.

Brandenburg state premier Manfred Stolpe called it a “flood disaster of unprecedented proportions” and said it would still require enormous effort by thousands of soldiers, homeowners and volunteers fighting the raging Oder.

In Bonn, Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s government pledged more than $110 million in low-interest loans and emergency aid for flood victims.

The army, which has been dropping sandbags and cement blocks by helicopter to bolster strained dikes, said it would send in another 1,000 soldiers, bringing the total on flood duty to about 7,000. The Red Cross appealed for donations.

Weeks of rain have raised the Oder to record levels, but the 100-mile dike on the German side had withstood the huge strains except for some leaks.

Police initially said the dike burst at two points, but emergency management officials later said there was only one break.

“It is almost a miracle that the dike hasn’t burst in more places,” said Matthias Platzek, state environment minister.

Many people were refusing to leave their homes, apparently because they feared looting or that authorities might intentionally flood their areas to reduce pressure on the dike.

The flooding has left about 100 people missing or dead in neighboring Poland and the Czech Republic, and devastated parts of those two nations. No deaths have been reported in Germany, where authorities had more time to prepare.

The water was still rising Wednesday even though the skies remained clear for a second day. More rain was forecast for later in the week.

At Frankfurt an der Oder on Wednesday, the river rose nearly 1 inch above a 1930 record of 20 feet, 11 inches.

The damage in the Czech Republic from massive flooding over the past two weeks has been estimated so far at about $1.8 million, but could go much higher because some of the worst-hit regions in the east remain under water - and impossible to examine.