An aerial view of the Neisse river near Goerlitz, Eastern Germany, photographed on Sunday Aug. 8, 2010. The flooding in central Europe has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. (AP Photo/ddp/ Jens Schlueter)
An aerial view of Neisse river shows parts of the city of Goerlitz, Eastern Germany, forground, and the Polish city of Zgorcelec on the other side of the swollen river, photographed on Sunday Aug. 8, 2010. The flooding in central Europe has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. (AP Photo/ddp/ Jens Schlueter)
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An aerial view of Neisse river near Goerlitz, Eastern Germany, photographed on Sunday Aug. 8, 2010. The flooding in central Europe has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. (AP Photo/ddp/ Jens Schlueter)
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An aerial view of Neisse river near Ostritz, eastern Germany, showing the flooded Marienthal monastery on Sunday Aug. 8, 2010. The flooding in central Europe has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. (AP Photo/ddp/ Jens Schlueter)
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A resident stands by his destroyed house after flash floods in the town of Bogatynia, Poland, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. The flooding has struck an area near the borders with Germany and the Czech Republic, where there have also been several fatalities. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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Aerial view of swollen Neisse river with the town of Ostritz, Germany, photographed on Sunday Aug. 8, 2010. The flooding in central Europe has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. (AP Photo/ddp/ Jens Schlueter)
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Residents try to get a bag out of roof of a destroyed house after a flash floods hit the town of Bogatynia, Poland, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. The flooding has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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A resident overlooks the damage after a flash floods hit the town of Bogatynia, Poland, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. The flooding has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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A resident sits by his destroyed house after a flash floods hit the town of Bogatynia, Poland, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. The flooding has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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Elderly woman pass by a cross after a flash floods hit the town of Bogatynia, Poland, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. The flooding has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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A resident reacts after her house was damaged in a flash floods that hit the town of Bogatynia, Poland, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. The flooding has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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Fire fighters carry water past a destroyed road after a flash floods hit the town of Bogatynia, Poland, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. The flooding has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic.(AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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A cat is seen in a destroyed house after a flash floods hit the town of Bogatynia, Poland, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. The flooding has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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Aerial view shows the broken wall of the Witka dam near Radomierzyce, Poland near the German boder Sunday Aug. 8, 2010. The death toll in flooding in central Europe rose more than 10 as Poland’s interior minister said Sunday that two more people had died in the southwestern region of the country. The flooding has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. (AP Photo/ddp/ Jens Schlueter/ddp)
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Aerial view shows the broken wall of the Witka dam near Radomierzyce, Poland near the German boder Sunday Aug. 8, 2010. The death toll in flooding in central Europe rose more than 10 as Poland’s interior minister said Sunday that two more people had died in the southwestern region of the country. The flooding has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. (AP Photo/ddp/ Jens Schlueter/ddp)
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Aerial view shows the broken wall of the Witka dam near Radomierzyce, Poland near the German boder Sunday Aug. 8, 2010. The death toll in flooding in central Europe rose more than 10 as Poland’s interior minister said Sunday that two more people had died in the southwestern region of the country. The flooding has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. (AP Photo/ddp/ Jens Schlueter/ddp)
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An elderly woman looks out of her window after a flash floods hit the town of Bogatynia, Poland, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. The flooding has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic.(AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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A resident cleans her damaged house after a flash floods hit the town of Bogatynia, Poland, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. The flooding has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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Residents clean their damaged house after flash floods hit the village of Hermanice, Czech Republic, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. The flooding has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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Residents carry water past a destroyed house after flash floods hit the village of Hermanice, Czech Republic, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. The flooding has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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A young boy sits in front of a house damaged in flash floods in the village of Hermanice, Czech Republic, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. The flooding has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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Residents walk past destroyed road after a flash floods hit the town of Bogatynia, Poland, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. The flooding has struck an area near the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic.(AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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WARSAW, Poland —
Poles, Czechs and Germans struggled Monday to clean up homes and towns badly damaged as the waters of deadly weekend flooding began to recede. But the swollen rivers pushed northward, and other towns and villages braced for possible high waters.
The floods have killed at least 11 people. One of the worst-hit places was the southwestern Polish town of Bogatynia, on the border with the Czech Republic.
The all-news station TVN24 aired images Monday showing the town strewn with rubble. Road were broken, and many homes suffered massive damage, including a house so destabilized by the swollen ground that it was badly tilted.
A bridge in the town was badly damaged; soldiers set up a temporary crossing to bring in food and other supplies.
TVN24 reported that some vendors were taking advantage of a lack of staples by charging 20 zlotys ($6.60) for a loaf of bread, far above the usual price.
In Germany, the situation was most critical in the state of Saxony, along the Neisse River, which forms the border with Poland. Hundreds of residents had to be evacuated.
“We will have massive damage to the infrastructure, but of course also to private property,” Saxony governor Stanislaw Tillich said. He urged Polish authorities to explain how a retaining dam on their side broke down, the German news agency DAPD reported.
The Neisse was expected to top 7 meters (23 feet)- 4.5 meters above its normal level. Some 1,400 people in the region were evacuated over the weekend, and more than 500 have not yet been able to return to their houses, the German news agency DDP reported.
In Bad Muskau, residents were preparing for the flooding and officials feared for a natural park, Fuerst-Pueckler-Park, a UNESCO world heritage site.
As the floods traveled further north, officials worried about waters reaching the Spree River, which runs through Berlin. However, there were no flood warnings for the German capital.
In the Czech Republic, waters were receding Monday and cleanup efforts were under way, helped by more than 300 soldiers.
Almost 1,000 Czech households were still without electricity and about 4,000 were without natural gas. Hundreds of houses and dozens of bridges have been destroyed or badly damaged.
Damage in the Czech Republic is estimated to reach almost 4 billion koruna ($215 million).
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Associated Press Writers Juergen Baetz in Berlin and Karel Janicek in Prague contributed to this report.
