Prague municipal workers arrived at City Hall before dawn to save key documents in the river’s path

Prague municipal workers arrived at City Hall before dawn to save key documents in the river’s path. Residents in the former Jewish quarter, with its centuries-old cemetery and several synagogues, were also ordered out of their homes. Sirens wailed through deserted streets as the evacuation progressed Helicopters surveyed the area overhead. “The situation is not optimistic, but I think we can still cope with it,” Jaroslav Tvrdik, the Czech defence minister, told The Associated Press as he watched the evacuation.

The worst floods in Europe for decades have left almost 90 people dead. Surging waters have smashed dams in Austria, submerged houses in Germany and overwhelmed flood defences in the historic centre of Prague, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.The death toll in the Czech Republic rose to at least nine, and seven deaths were reported in Austria, where 60,000 people were either evacuated from their homes or suffered flood damage.But the highest number of deaths was in Russia, where at least 58 people were killed late last week. They were mostly Russian tourists on the Black Sea who were caught by flood waters that swept cars and tents out to sea. As the rains moved east, the Danube river in Germany reached record levels, submerging the old town of Passau in Bavaria. A man aged 71 drowned in Dresden, where the flood waters lapped at the doors of the opera house, and inundated parts of the state parliament.

Seven people were missing after a dam burst.In Austria, the Danube and its tributaries were rising by up to three feet an hour. Officials said parts of Austria had experienced the heaviest rainfall since records began more than 100 years ago. In Salzburg, where the annual festival is under way, the river Salzach is threatening to inundate the cobbled streets of the city.Across the region, soldiers joined firemen to stack sandbags against the rising waters. In the Czech Republic, emergency services were working to protect the 13th century Charles Bridge as the Vltava river burst its banks, spilling into the historic Mala Strana district, and threatening to reach the Old Town.The Prime Minister, Vladimir Spidla, declared a state of emergency and ordered evacuations.. Police evacuated residents of Prague’s Old Town today, but let tourists back into its historic square as the flood threat appeared to ease in the Czech Republic and across most of Europe.