Fears for chemical plants in killer floods

Authorities say 15 people have died and at least four others are missing in the floods that have ravaged central Europe.

Firefighters said more than 19,000 people have been evacuated in the Czech Republic. One raging flood that inundated parts of Prague is now heading north toward Germany.

The dead included eight people in the Czech Republic, four in Germany, two in Austria and one in Slovakia.

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Authorities are now concerned about the safety of chemical plants next to the swollen rivers. The plants have been shut down and their chemicals removed.

Hundreds were being evacuated in the German city of Dresden, where the River Elbe was expected to crest last night. More than 3,000 people have had to leave their homes in the Czech city of Usti nad Labem on the Elbe near the German border, where floodwaters are still on the rise.

“It’s not over yet,” Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas said. “There are tough moments still ahead of us.”

He pledged more than five billion koruna (£162m) for clean-up work.

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Czech public television said a barrier that protects a chemical plant in Lovosice was leaking.

Early in the day the Elbe was running about seven metres (21 feet) over normal levels in Dresden.

In the eastern German city of Halle, the central area was already flooded. Elsewhere in the affected regions, soldiers and residents were reinforcing soaked levees with sandbags.

The water was slowly receding in the hard-hit Bavarian city of Passau, leaving behind vast amounts of debris. Flooding earlier this week in Passau was the worst in 500 years.

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In the Czech capital of Prague, the level of the swollen River Vltava was dropping and authorities surveyed the damage.

While most parts of the city, including its historical landmarks, were well protected by high metal barriers, Prague’s Zoo was particularly badly hit for the second time in 11 years, with animals having to be evacuated.

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