HELICOPTERS ferried sandbags to plug the crumbling dikes of flooding rivers in eastern Germany yesterday, as workers scrambled to protect a huge chemical complex and towns such as Wittenberg, once the home of religious reformer Martin Luther.

Thousands of workers continued to fight devastating floods in central Europe today as the death toll from the disaster rose to at least 105.

MORE than 30,000 people were evacuated from historic Dresden yesterday as floodwaters in the Elbe River surged past an all-time high, closing in on cultural landmarks already waterlogged by an earlier wave of high water.

More than 30,000 people were evacuated from historic Dresden today as floodwaters in the Elbe River surged past an all-time high, closing in on cultural landmarks already waterlogged by an earlier wave of high water.

FLOODWATERS in Dresden’s historic centre rose to the highest level in more than a century yesterday, threatening the Baroque city’s landmark opera and art collection as east Germany became the focus of flooding that has killed at least 100 people across Europe.