Historic floods leave trail of destruction

Some 70,000 firemen, 11,000 soldiers and an immense number of volunteers are fighting the floodwaters. In Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt, the Elbe River has reached its highest point ever in the 1,200 year history of the city. Tens of thousands of people were called upon to leave their homes in Germany's east and south.

The German military tried in vain to stabilize this levee, south of Magdeburg, with sandbags. At the intersection of the Elbe and the Saale, the water flowed over into a low-lying plain. The affected villages had been mostly evacuated the day before.

In Magdeburg, volunteers worked through the night under flood light, filling and stacking sandbags to bolster the levees. Many volunteers had barely slept in days, but despite all the hard work, the danger has not been averted. On Sunday, the water level in Magdeburg continued to rise.

The city of Halle in Saxony-Anhalt has been fighting the rising waters of the Saale, a tributary of the Elbe River. In this photo, a volunteer carries a child through a flooded street. In normal times, the level of the Saale is two meters. But in the past days the river has reached a record level of eight meters.

The German president followed in the footsteps of Chancellor Angela Merkel and numerous other politicians on Sunday, by visiting the affected communities. Joachim Gauck sought to encourage the residents and the emergency workers in the city of Meißen, world renowned for its porcelain tradition.

Some of the streets in Meißen almost look like Venice at first glance. The extent of the damage caused by the flooding still is not clear. The Elbe's waters have begun to recede in Meißen. But it's still too early for the cleanup to begin.

In the south of Germany, however, the cleanup has begun. In the Bavarian city of Deggendorf, which has been particularly hard hit by the floods, US Army soldiers are helping out. Cellars and first-floor apartments are being cleared out, but garbage is often all that's left.

First the sandbags, then the garbage bags. In Passau - where the Donau, Inn and Ilz Rivers converge - the German military is helping with the cleanup. The city has weathered the floodwaters, but a huge amount of mud has been left behind. "It's a foul broth," said a city spokesman.

The police in Passau have deployed water cannon to clean the mud off of the promenade. In a school in Passau, numerous donations have been stored: clothes, shoes, tooth brushes, cake and baked goods. Many Passauers are thrilled with the outpouring of support.

Neither ferries nor cars are out and about here. In Darchau in the northern state of Lower Saxony, the streets are hardly visible. Northern Germany anticipates the peak water level in the coming days. Here, thousands of emergency workers are trying to bolster the levees. The authorities say there is a risk that they could break.

Southern Germany will have to endure a few more fearful hours. The German Weather Service has forecast heavy rain, above all in Bavaria. Because the ground is still saturated with water, the rain could create further problems. On Tuesday, the weather is expected to be more hospitable.