Floods Rout Thousands in W. Germany : 6 Die as Rhine and Danube Overflow; Losses in Millions

The most serious flooding in West Germany in recent years, brought on by heavy rains and snowpack runoff, has caused at least six deaths, forced the evacuation of thousands of people, led to millions of dollars in damage and interrupted shipping, rail and road traffic.

Both the Rhine and the Danube have overflowed their banks, sending muddy water into city streets. Hundreds of emergency workers, including U.S. and West German soldiers, rescued stranded citizens and worked to shore up dikes along the swollen rivers.

Officials reported that most of the snowpack in West Germany had disappeared by Tuesday and that some rivers were receding. But forecasters predicted more rain through the Easter weekend.

“We’re not giving the all-clear signal yet,” said Rueiger Beiser, an official with the Office for Water and River Transport in Mainz, West Germany.

Watch on the Rhine

All shipping was halted on major waterways, including the Rhine--which is Europe’s busiest--the Main and the Mosel. Many highways and roads were under water, and train service was interrupted in some low-lying areas.

In Cologne, sightseers gathered to watch the rise of the Rhine, which came within about 2 inches of the top of the wall protecting the reconstructed Old Town section. Owners of commercial and residential buildings sandbagged doors and windows against the possibility of water spilling over the wall.

Highway Closed

A major six-lane highway in Cologne that runs through a tunnel alongside the Rhine was closed off with enormous steel doors to prevent cars from being trapped by possible flooding. The resulting detours led to massive traffic jams in the city.

In Bonn, firefighters and rescue workers in boats helped evacuate people from flooded areas.

Water flowed into the basement of the Old Waterworks, the temporary home of the Bundestag, or Parliament, while new quarters are being built.

The famous Hotel Dreesen, where in 1938 dictator Adolf Hitler met Britain’s Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to discuss the fate of Europe (they met later in Munich), also was flooded. Workers were taking up the parquet floor in the main lobby to prevent permanent damage.

Rivers of Germany

The Rhine, which after the Danube is the second-longest river in Western Europe, rises in the Alps and flows generally north to the North Sea. In Germany it is joined by the Neckar, Nahe, Main, Mosel, Lahn, Ahr, Sieg and Ruhr rivers. It rose steadily for days and overflowed into the lower sections of towns all along the valley.

In Erlangen, near Nuremberg in northern Bavaria, a 14-year-old boy drowned Monday in the Regnitz River, a tributary of the Main.

Earlier in the day, police in Wuerzburg reported that a van with two occupants had been swept into the Main.

Much damage was attributed to the faster-rising Danube, which rises in the Black Forest and flows to the east, eventually emptying into the Black Sea.

Two people died when their rowboat capsized near Regensburg in Bavaria, and a boy drowned when his bicycle fell into a stream that overran its banks.

Authorities in southeastern Germany said that even if the flood waters remain stable, there is danger that weakened dikes along the rivers will give way.

Fear of Pollution

Bavarian officials reported they are worried about the effects of widespread pollution caused by household heating oil seeping into rivers.

The water was reportedly rising near two nuclear power plants along the Rhine, near Worms and Koblenz, but authorities said there are no plans to shut either plant.

Flood victims could expect little in the way of help from insurance, because there is no compensation for flood damage.

“Insuring against floods is a bad risk,” one insurance company official said, “because only people certain to be affected would insure themselves. We have high water every year. It’s not a risk, but a certainty, so we don’t insure against it.”