There were fears yesterday that flood waters in the Czech Republic had mixed with toxic chemicals and got into the River Elbe. Germany's environment minister was due to visit a chemicals plant near Prague last night to establish whether toxic chemicals from there had seeped across the border, carried by the record floods.
Mr Jürgen Trittin was examining whether dioxin and other pollutants had spread from the Soplana plant in Neratovice to Germany on the Elbe River.
The Czech authorities have said there is no risk of an environmental catastrophe at Spolana, but admit the situation is serious and there is an ongoing threat of toxic leaks.
The fears are not limited to former Eastern Bloc areas. In Lauenburg, 40 km from the port city of Hamburg, two chemical plants have been evacuated.
Mr Trittin played down fears sparked by German reports that the flooding could cause serious outbreaks of disease, including hepatitis and dysentery.
He said "normal rules of hygiene", including washing hands, should be followed when returning to properties that had been flooded and that animal carcasses should be disposed of as quickly as possible.
But for residents returning to their homes, disease was pressing concern as they faced dealing with piles of decaying household waste and debris from shops.
Many sewage treatment plants have been forced to halt operations and the carcasses of fish and animals have been dumped along with the mud by the flood waters.
In the Czech capital Prague, officials continued to assess the damage to the historic city from last week's floods, the worst in 175 years.
About 150 families are believed to have lost their homes in the city centre, and schools will open a month late at the end of September.
A decision is expected today on who can return to their homes in the worst affected parts of the capital.
The Prime Minister, Mr Vladimir Spidla, has estimated the overall flood damage at up to €3 billion - a huge amount for a country with a population of less than 11 million.
And the zoo on the Prague outskirts had to deal with news of the death of another of its popular animals. Gaston, the sea lion which swam 150 miles to Germany after escaping from the flooded zoo, died yesterday while being transported home.
The next place to be struck by the record floods that have killed more than 100 people across central Europe is expected to be Yugoslavia.
Officials there have said they are confident flood defences will hold out against the high water heading their way.
In Germany where the Elbe is still menacing parts of the north, at least 19 people have been killed, dozens are missing and more than 100,000 people have been evacuated in the worst floods in over a century.
In Romania, two teenagers were swept to their deaths by flood waters in a forest and dozens of houses inundated by torrential rains in the central region of Brasov. Rains also brought new misery to villages near the Austrian city of Salzburg.
But Hungary has so far been spared the worst, with hastily-erected dams holding back the swollen Danube now at record levels in Budapest.
The Prime Minister, Mr Peter Medgyessy, called for international co-operation.
Countries are, however, trying to look to the future.
Mr Ernst Strasser, Austria's Interior Minister, told the nation: "The worst hours are behind us, but the most difficult days lie before us." - (AP, Reuters)