Budapest braces for swollen Danube Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in eastern Germany where the Elbe river has flooded, while the swollen Danube is approaching Budapest where soldiers and volunteers are building flood walls. Parts of the south and north ends of the Hungarian capital are already under water, but the city's downtown area, including the parliament building and several large hotels near the river bank, are seemingly out of direct danger as flood walls were built to a height of 9.30 metres. Officials say nearly 8,000 volunteers and specialised crews in Budapest have strengthened flood walls by packing and placing one million sand bags and many are also monitoring defences for any leaks. At least 21 flood-related deaths have been reported in central Europe, as rivers such as the Danube, the Elbe and the Vlatava have overflowed after a week of heavy rains and caused extensive damage in central and southern Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. In Magdeburg, in eastern Germany, more than 23,000 residents had to leave their homes on Sunday after many streets and buildings were flooded and electricity was shut off, dpa said. Around 700 soldiers are trying frantically to build a dam of sandbags around a power substation. A flooding of the substation would not only leave thousands of households without water, but also lead to a breakdown of the neighbourhood's dewatering pumps. Another 8,000 people had been evacuated from the town of Aken and its neighbouring villages after a dam on the Elbe river broke Saturday, police say. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says 7,000 soldiers and thousands of volunteers are packing sandbags on the banks of the Danube to shore up flood walls. "The flood is now approaching Budapest, the heart of the country," Orban said in Esztergom, some 48km north of Budapest. Two decisive days are ahead of us because the danger will be where most people live and where most things of value are at risk. It is now when we have to gather all our strength. Some 1,400 people have been evacuated from towns and villages along the Danube, including more than 200 in Budapest.