Merkel promises assistance

German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged 100 million euros ($130 million) in emergency aid for flood-ravaged areas on Tuesday

Merkel, visiting the flooded southern city of Passau, where three rivers meet, said the emergency cash would be disbursed in an unbureaucratic way because "what's important now is that the aid quickly reaches the people".

The German defense forces said they had deployed 4,000 troops for disaster relief in four states, securing dykes with sandbags, providing food, shelter and clothes for displaced people and monitoring water-logged areas from helicopters. Merkel took a helicopter tour of flood-hit areas in the southern state of Bavaria, then visited Passau, where she said the floods appeared worse than those of 2002.

AFP