Flooding peril surges north to German city of Dresden

DRESDEN, Germany -- Floodwaters from the heaviest rain to hit Central Europe in more than a century swept through Baroque landmarks in cities along the Danube, Vltava and Elbe rivers Wednesday, adding a cultural toll to a weeklong disaster that has already caused billions of dollars in property damage, driven hundreds of thousands from their homes and killed at least 98 people across the region.

Here in Dresden, the latest major city to be hit as the flooding moves northward, the Elbe River swelled to its highest level since 1890 and continued to spill into the city center. Rescue workers who had spent the previous day plucking stranded residents from rooftops spent Wednesday evacuating 4,000 Renaissance paintings to the attic of the 18th century Zwinger Palace, home to one of Germany's most valuable art collections. Officials warned the artworks were still at risk.

At the opulent Semper Opera, also in the flooded heart of this Saxony state capital, the theater's valued costume collection suffered severe damage and water stood waist-high in the lobby and stairwells.

Thousands of awestruck residents flocked to the Elbe's bridges and elevated promenade with children in tow and cameras, taking respectful note of nature's humbling of their surroundings. They watched as riverside restaurants drifted away in the floodwaters. An outdoor movie theater erected for a film festival had become an inaccessible island.

Fire engines and ambulance sirens wailed and helicopters buzzed overhead, but the hushed audience flanking the waters watched with a quiet fascination usually reserved for historic moments.

"It breaks my heart to see the city where I was born destroyed by a force we can't control or estimate," said Katrin Brueck, an office worker idled by the flooding. She brought her two children, decked out in rubber boots and umbrellas, to watch workers sandbag city landmarks and the murky brown water advance on the historic city center.

Dresden, which was destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II and subjected to Communist neglect for the next half-century, had been painstakingly restored since Germany's 1990 reunification.

While the flooding afflicting Prague in the Czech Republic, Salzburg in Austria and other cities south of here was believed to have peaked Wednesday, Dresden officials said the Elbe had yet to crest and could reach greater heights today. Klaus Jeschke, a Saxony state official, warned of a "grave prognosis" for the tributaries and rivers that flow into the Elbe. Dresden's peak could surpass an 1845 record for the city, he added.

Huge swaths of southern and eastern Germany have joined areas of the Czech Republic, Romania, Russia and Austria that are under states of emergency and facing billions of dollars in damage.

In the Czech Republic, floodwaters from the Vltava River poured over fabled bridges and promenades in Prague's medieval Old Town Square on Wednesday. Firefighters worked to prevent debris from damaging the historic Charles Bridge, as thousands of residents joined a week-old evacuation that by nightfall included 200,000 people. It was the city's biggest displacement since World War II.

A power failure halted the Czech capital's famous clock tower, stopping its hands and the hourly mechanized theatrics that have charmed millions of visitors. At the Prague Zoo, a gorilla drowned in his cage and keepers were forced to put down an elephant and a hippopotamus they were unable to rescue.

By afternoon, the rain clouds parted over most of the Czech Republic and Austria. In the Black Sea region of Russia, however, where the torrential rains began a week ago and killed 59 people before easing, the torrent was expected to resume today.

Officials warned that further casualties were likely. Yuri Tkachenko, director of the Krasnodar regional weather forecasting service, said the Russian flooding was "as if a huge lake was suddenly turned upside down."

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder broke off campaigning for re-election and came to Dresden to assess the extent of the disaster. As he flew over the inundated architectural gems of the city's Old Town, the Elbe spread its mud-laden mayhem downriver to Dessau, where it joins with the equally swollen Mulde River, then marched toward the Saxony-Anhalt state capital, Magdeburg.

At least 700 soldiers and volunteers near Bitterfeld, about 45 miles southeast of Magdeburg, raced against the rising waters to shore up a flood barrier and prevent the Elbe from breaking through to a chemical industry complex. The site is home to 350 companies, many with inventories that could poison the river and regional water table if spilled.

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