German Floods Less Mighty, But Still Destructive

The water levels in Dresden are slowly sinking, and residents can breathe a sigh of relief that the worst is over. Now, the historic city faces the task of cleaning up the destruction, which Dresden's mayor has called the worst since the city was bombed at the end of World War II.

But life is slowly returning to normal. On Tuesday, Dresden reopened its Albertinum Museum, which houses the Green Vault, one of the world's great collections of precious stones.

However, towns further up the Elbe River are bracing themselves for the flood. In Magdeburg, local authorities said the dikes were able to withstand the largest surge of water late Monday night. They said they had learned their lesson from the flooding suffered by other cities and had spent the last few days fortifying the barriers along the river.

Preparing for the worst

The stretch between Wittenberge in northern Brandenburg and Geesthacht near Hamburg is now feverishly trying to strengthen its dikes in preparation.

The highest water surge is expected to hit Wittenberge on Wednesday or Thursday before heading on to Hamburg.

The deep sea port of Hamburg, however, should be able to withstand the water masses without too much damage. Since the port is equipped to handle large-sized container ships, it contains several deepwater basins. Authorities hope the water surge will simply disperse into these areas.

Four million Germans have already been affected by the worst flooding to hit the country in a century, forcing well over 100,000 to flee their homes. The country faces billions of euro in damage to crops, homes and infrastructure.

Tax cuts criticized

German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has announced that Berlin will delay planned tax cuts due to come into force in 2003 to finance the cost of clean-up operations. The government said the decision would allow about 6.9 billion euro ($6.76 billion) to be released.

But economists have criticized the move. "I think it's wrong that absolutely no attempts are being made to save in other areas in order to be able to finance the catastrophe aid," financial expert Rolf Peffekoven from the University of Mainz told German public broadcaster ZDF.

Analysts at Commerzbank said the move showed how strained state of the government budget has become. "The leeway is very slight," a report by the analysts noted.

Folker Hellmeyer, chief analyst at the Bremer Landesbank, said the move was not helping growth, which is what the economy needed right now. The already weakened consumer expenditure would be burdened further, he said.