I want to tour Budapest, Vienna, Prague and Berlin in mid July. I am concerned that the recent floods will cause disruptions to travel and generally spoil my experiences in these cities. Can anyone comment on how quick they are likely to clean up from this terrible disaster?
I don't know anything about Budapest, but I believe Vienna suffered only minor damage, and of districts that tourists are likely to visit in Prague, only one small area was badly hit. As far as I know, the flooding didn't hit Berlin. Some areas of Germany received signicant flooding, but other than the city of Passua, most of the damage occured in the hinterlands.
There was no flooding damage in Berlin, and travel disruptions are pretty much limited to a closed railway track near Magdeburg. Trains from/to Berlin to/from Frankfurt, Hannover and München have been diverted, which increases travel time by up to 1 hour, but that is pretty much all disruption related to Berlin.
The FLOOD IN BUDAPEST was the Flood that never happened. Odd how one of the poorest countries in the region was also the best prepared. The lower embankment went under water but it is designed to do just that when the river is up and there was one minor breech at the north end of Buda near the metro station but its all back to normal.