Floods wreak havoc in Hungary, central Europe
Some Jewish cemeteries could be flooded, Jewish Federation spokesperson says ahead of Monday, when highest water levels expected in Budapest
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On Saturday, more than 70,000 fire fighters and 11,000 soldiers were on duty fighting the most dramatic floods in Germany in more than a decade. Thousands of residents were still unable to return to their homes, and bridges and streets were impassable in many regions of eastern and southern Germany.
German news agency dpa said people in Magdeburg in Saxony-Anhalt were anxiously awaiting the crest of the Danube river on Saturday, while residents further upstream were starting to clean up the debris that was left along Europe’s biggest river.
High water levels were still reported from Hungary, Slovakia, while thousands of people in Austria were busy shoveling away the mud left by the receding floodwaters.
Twenty people have reportedly died in the floods.
Communities in Hungary located along the Danube River were evacuated ahead of Monday, when the highest levels of water were expected in Budapest — as high as 8.85 yards, some 10 inches higher than the last record set in 2006.
Dozens of volunteers from Hungarian Jewish communities arrived in Budapest this week to help prepare for floods in and around the city.
A delegation of about 50 people from the Federation of Jewish Communities in Hungary, or Mazsihisz, participated in preparation work Thursday along the banks of the Danube River outside Budapest, according to Gyorgy Gador, a spokesperson for Mazsihisz.
Gador said the Mazsihisz contingent began working on Wednesday.
None of Budapest’s Jewish buildings appear to be in any danger, Gador told JTA. “There are some Jewish cemeteries that are at risk of being flooded but our analysis shows the Jewish buildings will remain dry,” he said.
The French news agency AFP reported Friday that thousands of Hungarians feverishly worked through the night reinforcing dykes along the banks of the swelling river, as Budapest braced for what is expected to be a record flood surge.
Europe’s worst river floods in over a decade have already wrought devastation in parts of Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic. In Hungary, the Danube had risen to record levels in the west of the country by Friday morning.
In the Czech Republic, flood preparations forced the Prague Jewish Museum to close its doors on Sunday. It reopened the next day.
The Times of Israel Community.