Scramble to protect chemical stores and historic sites from floods in east Germany

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.

Upstream, Dresden authorities were weighing when the sinking level of the Elbe River could allow some of the thousands evacuated from the city to return to inspect the damage to their sodden homes.

With Germany now the focus of the flooding that has killed at least 105 people across Europe, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was to meet in Berlin yesterdayok with European Commission president Romano Prodi and leaders from Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to discuss how to tackle the devastation.