The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 02-08-16

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From: The Hellenic Radio (ERA) <www.ert.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Weather forecast

(16/8/2002 3:09:00 μμ)

[02] Century worst floods in central and eastern Europe.

The worst floods in over a century drove tens of thousands from their homes across eastern Germany yesterday as rising water levels threatened to submerge the historic center of the baroque city of Dresden.

Countries along the route of the floods struggled to come to terms with the multi billion euro cost of cleaning up after the catastrophe, which has killed more than 80 people from the Black sea to the Baltic.

By the early hours today, the river Elbe had reached a height of 8.60 metres just 17 centimeters short of the highest level on record , 8.77 meters in 1845.The local environment and geology department has warned that the water level is rising by 4 centimeters in an hour.

In the east German town of Pirna, which is on the Elbe near the Czech border, emergency services began evacuating 30.000 residents overnight helped by German and American troops.

Emergency services said another 35.000 people in the cities of Bitterfeld and Magdeburg in the neighbouring state of Saxony-Anhalt were also on stand -by to abandon their homes. Authorities said chemical plants around Bitterfeld were not in danger of being flooded, allaying fears of chemical leaks similar to a release of chlorine into the air following flood damage to a chemical plant near Prague yesterday.

In Austria, Salsburg has suffered material damage while other central European towns and cities were on alert for floods. Authorities in the Slovak capital Bratislava and the Hungarian capital Budapest said they were closely monitoring water levels on the Danube.

The general director of the International Nature Fund, Klont Marten said that climatic changes and the bad defense barriers of rivers are the causes of the catastrophic floods.

Greek meteorologist, Kostas Lagouvardos said that unsettled weather in east and central Europe influences Greece but not dramatic weather changes will hit Greece.

In the meantime, at least 14 people were killed, 17 others were missing and 7000 people were affected after days of heavy rains caused a dam to burst in a town in northern Mexico.

In China, a huge wall of mud and rock slammed into villages in the southwestern province of Yunnan, killing 24 people and leaving 43 missing.

(16/8/2002 3:11:00 μμ)

[03] Meeting at the Economics Minsitry

(16/8/2002 3:11:00 μμ)

[04] Additional statement from Giotopoulos

(16/8/2002 3:14:00 μμ)

[05] Wildfire in Corfu

Firefighters are continuing their efforts to extinguish the fire which spread due to strong winds.

(16/8/2002 3:14:00 μμ)

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