Many regions in neighbouring Poland have been evacuated following more than a dozen deaths due to flooding. Accordingly, the head of the authority Matthias Freude told broadcaster ARD the coming days will “with certainty not be easy” for Brandenburg residents downriver.

On Monday, Oder water levels reached the first warning level at a measuring station near the city of Frankfurt an der Oder, with levels some 20 centimetres higher than the day’s previous measurements. Freude said he expected the second level or higher to be breached by week’s end.

Floodwaters could also threaten the banks of the Neiße, a nearby tributary of the Oder.

As the floods approach, the Brandenburg state catastrophe protection agency will meet on Tuesday in Potsdam for emergency talks on how to prepare for the situation.

Over the weekend in Poland waters reportedly rose by a metre in just 24 hours as streets and homes in several cities flooded. On Saturday a provisional dam broke in Wrocław.

Meanwhile dikes along the Vistula River, which goes through the Polish capital Warsaw, have burst. Police in the country reported on Tuesday that at least 14 people have been killed by the floods.