Major flooding has struck areas of Central and Eastern Europe along the Rivers Danube and Elbe over the past two weeks.

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The floods caused massive damage, estimated to be in the tens of billions of Euros, and precipitated the release of emergency funds from the governments of Germany, Czech Republic and Poland, where an estimated 600,000 hectares of agricultural land has been flooded.

Governments of other hard-hit states, including Austria, Hungary and Slovakia have said they are considering emergency measures, including the low-interest loans and hardship payments, which have been offered to affected farmers in Germany and Poland. The EU Commission and governments of member states not directly affected by flooding have also offered assistance, as water levels begin to fall and states begin to count the cost.

The result of torrential rain further north, flooding over the past two weeks started in Central Europe and moved East as the week wore on. The floods claimed at least 21 lives.  

According to the EU Commission's Emergency Response Centre (ERC), flood levels are finally falling in the last badly affected areas. ERC said that, having reached a peak early last week, high waters on the Danube are receding, though the situation on the Elbe has been slower to ease.

Between Sunday and Monday, most areas downstream of the flood wave in Eastern Europe, were operating 'yellow' flood warnings, indicating that the most severe risks are believed to have passed.  

German Chancellor Angela Merkel released €8 billion to help repair the damage caused by devastating flooding in 16 German States on Thursday. Germany was amongst the first states to be hit.

On Wednesday (12 June), the country's agriculture ministry BMELV outlined emergency aid measures for farming and forestry businesses affected by the disaster.

BMELV secretary Dr. Robert Kloos said, "The full extent of the damage is not yet known, [but] we estimate that the cost of flood damage will be in the hundreds of millions in the agricultural sector alone." Dr Kloos added that, "As the viability of affected businesses has been threatened in many cases, there is an urgent need for quick and effective aid."

The first aid payments to farmers will be available as soon as possible. BMELV said that, due to the seriousness of the issue, it would not set upper limits for emergency aid per farm, but that State governments and the German Federal government would work out agreements on aid payments over the coming days.