Europe floods begin to subside

BERLIN - Agence France-Presse

Disastrous floods in Germany began to subside today after leaving at least 19 people dead in central Europe, as Chancellor Angela Merkel made her fourth visit to the stricken region.

Muddy torrents that have destroyed once-fertile farmland, inundated homes and stranded thousands of residents continued to surge north along the Elbe river.
 
Water level stabilized

But the water level stabilized at around 9.5 meters overnight in the threatened town of Lauenburg, 40 kilometers southeast of Hamburg, still almost twice as high as normal.

Rail traffic between Berlin and cities in the west has been redirected due to submerged tracks and the closure of a bridge in Saxony-Anhalt in the center of the country, leading to delays of up to two hours on some routes.

In Hungary, which has seen the Danube reach perilous levels, said waters continued to recede in Budapest, down to 8.2 meters from nearly 9.0 meters on June 10.
 
The peak reached Baja, 150 kilometers south of the capital, where the level hit a record 9.88 meters. “Today we can say for the first time that we can beat this, which is why we need to fight once more, in Baja,” Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.