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Germany: Flood warnings on Oder River in eastern Brandenburg

The highest flood warning level is in effect for a short stretch of the Oder River in Brandenburg where it marks the German border with Poland. In some more rural areas, it has already burst its banks.

Authorities in Brandenburg in eastern Germany continue to prepare flood defenses and plans to evacuate affected areas if necessary, as high water flows along the Oder River from central Europe, which bore the brunt of major flooding last week. The highest flood warning level on the four-stage scale used in Germany was in effect for a stretch of the river south of the border city of Frankfurt an der Oder, with the alert level raised overnight on Tuesday. Further downstream, in Germany's "other" Frankfurt (not to be mistaken with the financial capital on the River Main in the west) and to its north, level 3 flood warnings were in effect. A long stretch of the German-Polish border, including this segment of the crossing, uses the Oder as its demarcating line. 

State premier Woidke visiting flood-hit town and village

Brandenburg's state premier Dietmar Woidke was expected in two of the worst-hit areas on Wednesday. Authorities in the state capital, Potsdam, said Woidke wanted to inspect the situation on site in Eisenhüttenstadt, a town of almost 25,000 people to the south of Frankfurt, and then in the small border village of Razdorf, a little further to the south, where the border and the path of the river diverge. In Ratzdorf, some roads and gardens are already underwater, with firefighters and other emergency responders trying to bolster flood defenses and prepare for any other contingencies like evacuating the village.

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A spokeswoman for the town of Eisenhüttenstadt similarly said that some roads, gardens and garages were already flooded in parts of the town. Two roads in particular in the endangered area near the Oder's banks were affected, and "we are continuing to reinforce with sandbags," she said. Germany's highest warning for high water levels does not designate a state of emergency or "catastrophe scenario" as the German term directly translates to, but does say that authorities should be preparing for the possible need to react to one.

msh/wmr (AFP, dpa) 

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Nepal floods, landslides kill at least 120 people

A heavy monsoon downpour has triggered floods and landslides in the Himalayan nation. Over a hundred people have died and search is on for dozens of missing.

Deaths from monsoon floods and landslides in Nepal rose to 126 on Sunday, with dozens of people still missing. Authorities say the toll is expected to climb further as reports come in from villages across the Himalayan nation. Torrential rains began late on Thursday and have since battered much of the country, particularly the eastern and central regions. Weather conditions improved on Sunday, allowing rescue, recovery and clean-up efforts to go on.

Kathmandu hit hard

Over half the deaths have been recorded in the capital, Kathmandu, and surrounding districts. Local reports say the rainfall is the worst Kathmandu has witnessed in decades. Whole neighborhoods in the city were inundated over the weekend amid reports of flash floods in rivers that cut through Kathmandu. The capital remained severed on Sunday as many key roads connecting it to the rest of the country were blocked by landslides. 

Rescuers retrieved 14 bodies overnight from two buses which were buried in rubble on a highway near Kathmandu. More vehicles were still buried at the same spot as rescue teams dug through mud and rocks trying to find people. Power and internet outages have also been reported in some areas. Meanwhile, the government has shut schools and colleges across Nepal for three days. Weather officials blame the heavy rainfall on a low-pressure system in the Bay of Bengal extending over parts of neighboring India.

dvv/nm (AP, dpa, Reuters)

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