Flood situation in southern Germany remains tense
The flood situation in the southern German state of Bavaria remains tense.
Even though the situation seems to be slowly easing in many places, there are fears that there could be more deaths due to several missing persons in addition to the five confirmed flood victims.
The search for a missing fire-fighter in western Bavaria continues on Wednesday, the police said.
The 22-year-old has not yet been found, said a police spokesman in Kempten.
Police were to search for the missing man on land and with drones.
The young man’s rescue boat had capsised in a water in Offingen on Saturday night.
The police also said other four rescued workers on board were able to save themselves and remained unharmed.
The the police spokesman said there was still hope that he would be found alive.
“But the chances are getting a little slimmer by the day,” he said.
Elsewhere in Bavaria, the water level is falling very slowly at a high level, a spokeswoman for the city of Regensburg said on Wednesday morning.
The Flood Information Service (HND) said the level of the River Danube in the area was still over 6 metres, normally it is around 3 metres.
On Tuesday evening, the emergency services evacuated around 30 houses along a road by the river because the subsoil was continuing to soften due to the high groundwater level.
“The stabilisation of the protective walls would continue to be the focus of disaster control on Wednesday. That is our weak point,” the spokeswoman said.
In Passau near the border with Austria and the Czech Republic, the water levels on the Danube and the River Inn slowly fell on Wednesday.