Flood preparations continue in Brandenburg

Flood preparations continue in the German town of Wittenberge as the waters of the River Elbe remain dangerously high.

The streets of the town in Brandenburg state - some 160 kilometres northeast of Berlin - were lined with sandbags, while businesses were closed and police cordons erected to keep people away from the water.

Officials coordinating the flood defences said they were concentrating on reinforcing dams.

District administrator Hans Lange said he was grateful the situation hadn't deteriorated overnight, with a slight easing in the water level of 5 cms.

Meanwhile, there was relief in the eastern city of Magdeburg as water levels there began to fall.

Some 23,000 people had been asked to leave the city - one of the oldest in eastern Germany - as the Elbe reached a record 7.48 metres, around five metres higher than normal.

At least a dozen people have died as a result of the floods that have hit Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and th