BUDAPEST, Hungary, June 6 (UPI) -- Flooding continued to move downstream Thursday on the Danube, Elbe and other rivers, putting the streets of historic European cities underwater.
At least 15 deaths have been confirmed from flooding this week, CNN reported, eight of them in the Czech Republic. Thousands of people have been evacuated in Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria, and a number of people were missing.
Flooding is expected to continue for days. The Danube is not expected to crest until Sunday at Budapest, Hungary, one of four national capitals through which the river flows on its way from the Black Forest in Germany to the Black Sea in Romania.
A state of emergency was declared Thursday in Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, as the Danube rose there.
In Germany, the Elbe was about 14 feet above its normal level at Dresden and was expected to rise 3 feet more before cresting late Thursday or early Friday. Officials in the state of Saxony said 3.5 million sandbags had been placed in the Dresden region to reduce flood damage.
The Danube was receding in Germany as was the Vlatava, a tributary of the Elbe, in the Czech Republic.
The flooding follows a wet spring and downpours last weekend. While Thursday was clear, officials were trying to prepare for more rain in the next few days.
