STENDAL, Germany, June 12 (UPI) -- Record water levels on the Elbe River pushed northward Wednesday, forcing 45,000 people from their homes in northern and eastern Germany, officials said.
Hundreds of residents were evacuated by helicopter and amphibious vehicle from Stendal and Aken in Saxony-Anhalt state in Germany, CNN reported.
"One-hundred-and-fifty people refused to be evacuated, but were forced to leave their homes by authorities," a Saxony-Anhalt's Interior Ministry spokesman said in Magdeburg.
Saxony-Anhalt is the state currently hit hardest by the flooding caused by rains since the beginning of the month and 45,000 people have been asked to leave their homes. About 11,500 rescue workers were working in the region, CNN reported.
The town of Fischbeck was totally flooded after a nearby dike was breached, CNN reported.
The water level around Stendal started to fall, but the water continued to flood villages downstream such as Klietz and Wust, CNN said.
"We expect the water to devastate further cities. Consequently we are trying to build new emergency dikes to stop the floods," the spokesman for Saxony-Anhalt's Interior Ministry said.
Annette Friedebold, the owner of an animal park in Weissewarte, said since last Tuesday she had to evacuate most of the 400 animals in the park.
"We built small evacuation islands for the animals that had to stay. Fortunately, all of them survived the flooding. But it is going to take at least three months until everything will be rebuilt," Friedebold said.
She said this is the worst flooding she has seen in the more than 30 years she has worked in Weissewarte.
Unprecedented water levels along the Elbe as it flows to the North Sea also have caused flooding in the Czech Republic, CNN said.
