Danube to peak in Budapest on June 11
The Danube River is expected to peak in the Hungarian capital city Budapest on June 11, according to official estimates, as countries in Central Europe continue to cope with the flood crisis that has cost 15 lives.
The surge in the Danube has crossed the border into Hungary and waters are expected to peak in the country’s border area at an all-time high on June 8.
The chairperson of the committee in charge of protecting Budapest from the flood waters, Imre Pesti, told a news conference on June 6 that barriers in the Hungarian capital would be built to a height of 9.5 metres, with the Danube expected to peak in Budapest at a height of 8.9 metres.
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has inspected flood defence work. Local media quoted by The Budapest Times said that about a hundred people had been evacuated to date but Orban warned that in the worst case scenario up to 80 000 may have to leave their homes.
In Germany the Elbe river peaked at over four times its normal level in the eastern city of Dresden. It was not high enough, though, to damage the historic city centre.
People in Dresden had worked frantically to shore up defences as the river peaked nearly seven metres above its normal level, the BBC said. Dresden was one of many German cities battling severe floods,
The Danube peaked on June 6 in the Slovak capital Bratislava, where the main flood defences held firm against the river, which rose to its highest level in a generation. The centre was spared serious flooding, but many low-lying areas, including the city’s river harbour, were inundated.
As a result of the flooding, three people have died in Germany, eight in the Czech Republic and four in Austria.
– with reporting by The Budapest Times, The Prague Post and The Slovak Spectator
Live updates on the flood situation regarding Hungary can be found at The Budapest Times
(Photo of Budapest: Yane Frenski/sxc.hu)
