GERMANY: AS COUNTRY BEGINS TO COUNT COST OF SEVERE FLOODS ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP GREENPEACE SAYS IT FEARS TOXIC CHEMICALS MAY POISON RIVER
Record ID:
647915
GERMANY: AS COUNTRY BEGINS TO COUNT COST OF SEVERE FLOODS ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP GREENPEACE SAYS IT FEARS TOXIC CHEMICALS MAY POISON RIVER
- Title: GERMANY: AS COUNTRY BEGINS TO COUNT COST OF SEVERE FLOODS ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP GREENPEACE SAYS IT FEARS TOXIC CHEMICALS MAY POISON RIVER
- Date: 18th August 2002
- Summary: (U4) DRESDEN, GERMANY (AUGUST 17, 2002) (REUTERS) FOR DETAILED SHOTLIST 1 - 12 SEE PROD 10610/02: 1. RIVER ELBE ARMY HELICOPTER HOVERING OVER RIVER AND PARTIALLY SUBMERGED LANDING PIER; HELICOPTER FLYING 3. ELBE WATER LEVEL UNDERNEATH BRIDGE 4. FLAGS AND LANDING PIER PARTIALLY SUBMERGED IN WATER 5. BRIDGE AND HELICOPTER IN AIR, PAN TO SANDBAG WALL WITH ONLOOKERS 6. COURTYARD OF FLOODED ZWINGER MUSEUM TO SEMPER OPERA HOUSE 7. FLOODED SEMPER OPERA HOUSE SURROUNDED BY WATER 8. SANDBAGS OUTSIDE SEMPER OPERA ENTRANCES 9. PEOPLE STANDING BEHIND SANDBAGS 10. RESCUERS TO FIRE TRUCKS OUTSIDE SEMPER OPERA 11. RAILWAY TRACKS COVERED IN MUD 12. VARIOUS OF MEN MOVING DEBRIS FROM TRAIN STATION ONTO GARBAGE TRUCK 1.30 (U5) (AERIALS) GRIMMA, GERMANY (AUGUST 17, 2002) (REUTERS) 13. AERIALS OF FLOODED HOUSES (2 SHOTS) 1.47 (U5) (AERIALS) RIESA, GERMANY (AUGUST 17, 2002) (REUTERS) 14. AERIALS OF FLOODED FIELDS (3 SHOTS) 2.06 (U5) DOEBELN, GERMANY (AUGUST 17, 2002) (REUTERS) 15. SLV DESTROYED HOUSE, PAN TO CRANE REMOVING DEBRIS; MV MAN SHOVELLING MUD INTO GARBAGE TRUCK; SLV VOLUNTEERS AND HELPERS FETCHING FOOD; MV PEOPLE EATING AT TABLE IN STREET (5 SHOTS) 2.48 (U5) DORTMUND, GERMANY (AUGUST 17, 2002) (REUTERS) 16. SLV MEETING OF UNION LEADERS OF GERMAN CONSTRUCTION UNION IN DORTMUND 2.54 17. LAS GERHARD SCHROEDER, GERMAN CHANCELLOR, SPEAKING; AUDIENCE LISTENING (2 SHOTS) 3.03 18. (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERHARD SCHROEDER, GERMAN CHANCELLOR SAYING "I believe that everyone, no matter where they work and live, everyone in Germany stands firmly behind those who now need our special help." 3.23 19. SLV AUDIENCE APPLAUSE 3.27 (U5) BITTERFELD, GERMANY (AUGUST 17, 2002) (REUTERS) 20. LAS TILT DOWN HUGE FACTORY CHIMNEYS IN INDUSTRIAL AREA KNOWN AS CHEMICAL PARK; ZOOM IN SCU YELLOW LIQUID AROUND MACHINES IN INDUSTRIAL PARK 3.45 21. (SOUNDBITE) (German) MANFRED KRAUTER, GREENPEACE CHEMICALS EXPERT SAYING "This area contains highly toxic chemicals stored outside and in open warehouses. These are very toxic chemicals which are water soluble in very rusty containers. Some of the containers are already leaking chemicals and if they get swept away by the floods they will of course reach the city of Bitterfeld." 4.08 22. HAS VOLUNTEERS AND HELPERS ON HUGE PILE OF SANDBAGS; MV SANDBAGS LIFTED (2 SHOTS) 4.18 23. SLV PAN HELPERS GETTING COLD SHOWER WITH HOSE 4.24 24. AV HELICOPTER HOVERING ABOVE PILE OF SANDBAGS; MV SOLDIERS STACKING SANDBAG PALLETS (3 SHOTS) 4.50 (U5) RIESA, GERMANY (AUGUST 17, 2002) (REUTERS) 25. SLV PAN PARTIALLY COLLAPSED RAILWAY BRIDGE OVER ELBE RIVER; RAILWAY TRACKS ON COLLAPSED BRIDGE; DEFORMED TRACKS; SLV ROAD SIGNS SUBMERGED IN WATER (4 SHOTS) 5.23 26. SLV FIREMEN IN BOAT FLOATING PAST 5.31 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 2nd September 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: DRESDEN, DORTMUND, BITTERFELD, RIESA AND DOEBELN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Reuters ID: LVACTHFOC67FORW8XSPVESSISRIC
- Story Text: As Germany begins to count the cost of severe flooding
the environmental group Greenpeace says it fears toxic
chemicals from the badly affected town of Bitterfeld could
poison the river.
German authorities scrambled on Saturday (August 17, 2002)
to evacuate thousands of people from cities on the river Elbe as
record floods peaked in the eastern architectural jewel of
Dresden, buzzing with the sound of helicopters and sirens.
The historic city's mayor said Dresden was facing its
greatest test since U.S. and British planes destroyed it in
World War Two.
As the water levels recede however, the cost rises and
estimates have put the damage at more than 100 million euros
(dollars) for Dresden alone which, steeped in water, looks
like Venice on the Elbe . At least 12,000 people had to be
evacuated from the city where on Saturday pumps were busy
removing water from homes as well as historic buildings like
the Zwinger Palace, the Semper Opera and the Royal Palace.
In the city's train station, shop owners removed mud and
debris.
Floods have killed at least 90 people in Germany, Russia,
Austria and the Czech Republic over the last week following
torrential rains which sent a huge surge of water through
river systems. At least 11 died in Saxony.
A 56-year-old man in Dresden drowned on Friday night after
taking a final look at his basement before an evacuation, the
Saxony Interior Ministry said.
But Dresden is just one of scores of towns in Germany's
former communist east ravaged by the deluge.
From high above in the sky Grimma and Riesa were barely
visible under the flood water.
About 8,000 people around the German town of Torgau had to
abandon their homes and several thousand more were set to be
evacuated around the central city of Magdeburg, officials said.
Residents in Doebeln joined thousands of workers and
volunteers to clear up rubble from collapsed buildings and
scrape the mud from homes and businesses.
Forced to eat outside, catered for by mass kitchens, they
know they are in it for the long haul.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is to attend a summit
with leaders from Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia in
Berlin on Sunday. German officials said European Commission
President Romano Prodi would also attend.
Running for re-election in just over a month's time he
addressed a construction workers union meeting in Dortmund.
The Chancellor promised his people the government would do
all it could to help flood victims and businesses affected by
them.
"Everyone, no matter where they work and live, everyone in
Germany stands firmly behind those who now need our special
help," he said.
The German government said it was prepared to foot the
bill for billions of euros worth of repairs to public
infrastructure after the floods in the east and south and
announced hundreds of millions of euros in emergency cash
relief to flood victims.
The conservative opposition, tipped to beat the Social
Democrats in a September general election, said Germany had
enough room for manoeuvre to avoid endangering the country's
adherence to the stability pact.
Greenpeace said on Saturday more could be at stake if the
water reaches the industrial part of Bitterfeld, near Leipzig.
The heavily industrial town sits on the Mulde river.
Greenpeace spokesman Manfred Krauter has accused factory
owners there of covering up the danger of toxic chemicals from
their plant seeping into the river.
Thousands have been evacuated from the town, in what was
once Communist East Germany, amid fears a burst dam could
reach the chemical plants.
"This area contains highly toxic chemicals stored outside
and in open warehouses. These are very toxic chemicals which
are water soluble in very rusty containers," Krauter said.
Emergency workers toiled in the city to build temporary
defences with sandbags.
In Riesar, a railway bridge over the Elbe river partially
collapsed because of the heavy floods.
Britain's Financial Times said on Saturday Prodi would
promise Germany more than one billion euros (dollars) in
financial assistance, although officials in Brussels and
Berlin said it was too early to speculate.
French President Jacques Chirac said in a letter to
Schroeder: "I want to reiterate my country's readiness to do
all it can to help save lives and come to the rescue of the
local populations.
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