Europe floods: Tusk in southern Poland for crisis meeting

The Austrian section of the Danube River is closed to navigation until further notice after a prolonged period of heavy rainfall, the Ministry for Climate Protection and Mobility in Vienna announced.

The closure has stranded about 70 cargo and 70 passenger vessels in Austria. Most of the passengers were able to go ashore. 

The Danube is closed to navigation because the high water levels are only slowly receding after the incessant rain finally ended.

The ministry says rising temperatures mean that snow that has fallen on the mountains is now expected to melt, raising fears that the Danube will rise again. 

Officials said it was not yet possible to estimate how long the shipping ban would remain in effect.

The main zoo of the Polish city of Wroclaw has appealed for volunteers to fill sandbags, with the Oder River expected to continue rising for the next few days.

"Dear friends, we need your help. If you have the opportunity and free hands to work, please help us fill sand into bags," the zoo
directorate wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.

The zoo said it needed some 50 volunteers for the sandbagging effort, and later added that enough people had already signed up.

It also added that animals had been taken to a place of safety.

Flood waters in Austria have started to recede but the situation remains tense in parts of the country, authorities say.

The provincial governor of Lower Austria, Johanna Mikl-Leitner, says there is a lingering threat of dam breaches and landslides, with many people still without electricity.

Mikl-Leitner said it was vital to stay cautious and vigilant. 

Water broke dams in 21 places in the state on Monday, with the clean-up likely to take weeks or even months. 

Mikl-Leitner said there was "a great deal of human suffering, a great deal of financial suffering."

The full extent of the damage remains unknown. In Lower Austria, 271 roads are still closed due to flooding, with 26 communities isolated by land. 

Some 33,000 emergency service workers were on duty during the four days of continuous rainfall, authorities said.

The water level on the Elbe River continued to rise slowly in the eastern German state of Saxony.

In the city of Dresden, the water level reached 5.86 meters at 7 a.m. local time (0500 UTC) on Tuesday, according to state weather authorities.

If it reaches 6 meters, the state will declare its second-highest flood alarm level.

On Monday, the Elbe rose less than forecast, with hydrologists expecting the highest flood alarm level to be reached either in Dresden or the town of Schöna near the Czech border.

People in Dresden have been rushing to remove parts of a partially collapsed bridge ahead of the expected flooding.

People in the town of Nysa in southwestern Poland were rushing to fortify a weakened dyke with sandbags to combat severe flooding.

The town lies in the Opole region, some 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of the major city of Wroclaw.

Local residents in Nysa joined forces with the army and the fire brigade to assist in the efforts.

"There were about 2,000 people on the dyke: women, men, children and senior citizens," Mayor Kordian Kolbiarz told the Rmf.fm radio station, adding that people had formed a human chain to transport the sandbags.

In Wroclaw, a crisis management meeting convened with Prime Minister Donald Tusk to address the escalating situation.

Tusk said there were contradictory forecasts as to whether floodwaters would reach Wroclaw, adding that the predictions needed to be analyzed in detail.

The Polish government has declared a state of natural disaster in affected areas to streamline the enforcement of emergency measures. At least four people have died in flooding in Poland so far.

sdi/sms (AP, Reuters, AFP, dpa)