DRESDEN, Germany – Desperate families were plucked from rooftops by helicopters, cars were swept away by raging torrents and levees failed without warning Wednesday as central Europe staggered under an inland ocean of flooding.
Tens of thousands of people had to be evacuated in Germany and the Czech Republic and chemical plants along the mighty Danube and Elbe rivers were hastily shut down. City officials, federal troops and emergency workers across a vast region either raced to prepare or struggled to cope as flood crests roared downstream.
Near the southeastern German town of Deggendorf, two levees broke along the Danube and Isar rivers and their raging waters engulfed nearby houses. A southern German highway disappeared under the muddy floodwaters, cars were swept away and only the top of a few trucks peeked out above the waters.
Families scrambled to their rooftops and were airlifted to safety.
“This is an absolutely life-threatening situation,” local firefighter Alois Schraufstetter said. “Houses are covered up to 10-feet deep in water.”
Four farmers were rescued at the last minute by a helicopter airlift as floods submerged their tractor, he said. About 2,000 people were evacuated.
“We would have risked our lives had we stayed at home,” resident Hans Loefflmann said, adding that he and his wife had to leave all their valuables behind when the floods gushed into their house within minutes.
Firefighters said more than 19,000 people were evacuated from the flooding in the Czech Republic.
In the eastern German city of Halle, the downtown area flooded despite frantic efforts to protect it with sandbag barriers. Authorities urged 30,000 residents to leave their homes as the Saale river reached its highest level in 400 years.
“We fought against the water all day yesterday, and we’ve lost,” said Julia Linne, an employee at an intensive care home in Halle. “At one point, we just gave up.”
In the Czech Republic, authorities said the water in the Elbe was expected to reach 36 feet early Thursday in the country’s north, almost four times its usual height.
After inundating parts of Prague, a surge on the Elbe was now roaring north toward Germany, particularly the eastern city of Dresden, where hundreds were being evacuated. The river, which was expected to crest early Thursday, was running about 21 feet over normal levels Wednesday.
Overall, 16 people have died since the beginning of the flooding last week, including eight people in the Czech Republic, five in Germany, two in Austria and one in Slovakia. At least four other people were missing in the Czech Republic, according to the interior minister.
