German officials warn against flood tourism after days of rainfall

Following massive rains and floods in many parts of Germany, officials warned residents not to engage in disaster tourism.

Meanwhile experts are concerned about the condition of the country's dykes, needed to prevent further flooding.

In Celle near Hanover, officials appealed to people to take closures seriously and only travel to the city if absolutely necessary.

"Growing 'flood tourism' and traffic are preventing emergency services from getting through in many places," the city said. In Verden, some 94 kilometres north-west of Hanover, the fire brigade also reported disruptive disaster tourists.

Numerous districts once again appealed to residents not to walk on embankments around rivers, as they are softened and could be damaged. In the city of Oldenburg, there is a ban on climbing dykes, which is punishable by a fine of up to €5,000 ($5,528).

Meanwhile experts are focusing on how the embankments, built around many German rivers prone to flooding, are holding up.

"What worries us most is the condition of the dykes," the president of Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), Sabine Lackner, told dpa on Friday. THW is preparing to work in the flood areas into the first week of January, she said.

"It's very clear that this will continue over the turn of the year," Lackner added.

The dykes are extremely soft. Around 1,000 emergency personnel are travelling to the affected areas every day, she said.

There was a bit of good news for the Serengeti Park in Lower Saxony, where the critical flood situation has eased slightly, meaning the chance of having to evacuate giraffes and antelopes has dropped.

Pumps on the grounds had managed to push large amounts of water behind the dyke in the direction of the Meisse River, said a spokeswoman for the theme park north of Hanover.

The water in the antelope and giraffe animal house had also sunk noticeably and flowed out of the building again. However, according to the park, large parts of the grounds are still flooded and in some cases inaccessible.

The park is home to lions, rhinos, tigers and elephants. It already evacuated more than 200 monkeys along with some lemurs, prairie dogs and meerkats on Thursday.

Overall the situation in the flood areas in Germany remained critical on Saturday, but some states showed improvement.

In Lower Saxony, some water levels in the Weser were still above the highest warning level, according to a situation report issued by the State Agency for Water Management, Coastal Defence and Nature Conservation (NLWKN) on Saturday morning. There is a warning of major flooding for several other rivers, however no new rain is expected in the state's flood areas on Saturday, a meteorologist from the German Weather Service (DWD) said.

In Lilienthal, on the state border with Bremen, hundreds of people are still unable to return to their homes. The evacuations are continuing, said a municipal spokeswoman and it is unclear when residents could return to their homes. Around 500 people live in the affected areas.

In the eastern state of Saxony, flooding of the Elbe River continues to recede, with the water level on Saturday morning at 5.30 metres, down from 5.92 metres seen on Friday but still well above the normal 2 metres, according to an overview from the Saxony's Flood Centre.

In Dresden, the state capital, as well as in Schöna on the Czech border and downstream in Riesa, the alert level was still 2, but hydrologists expect water levels to continue to fall. There were no more flood warnings for the other river basins in Saxony.

But in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, overnight rainfall was heavier than expected, leading to rising water levels in some rivers, as the areas were already saturated. In the southern part of the state the water was nearly half a metre above the highest alert level of 2 metres.