PRAGUE -- Emergency Workers battled on Wednesday to hold rising water back from the heart of medieval Prague as the 800-year-old Czech capital reeled from the worst flooding since records began.

The rushing water of the river Vltava, swollen from days of heavy rain, was just inches (centimeters) from the top of heavy steel barriers that were all that remained between the historic old town area and inundation.

The floodwater was expected to peak later on Wednesday.

"I am shocked by the extent of the damage we are facing," said city Mayor Igor Nemec.

In the country's largest evacuation operation since World War II, over 200,000 people have been forced from their homes.

Prague flood levels have eclipsed the previous record from 1890.

Weather has wreaked havoc across Central and Eastern Europe in the past week, with torrential rains and floods across Russia, Romania, Austria and Germany killing more than 80 people.

The historic baroque cities of Dresden in eastern Germany and Salzburg in western Austria have both been inundated along with dozens of other towns.

Hundreds more have died in seasonal floods in South Asia and Iran. The chaos has been blamed by some on changes to the global climate wrought by man-made pollution, Reuters reported.

At Prague's world-famous 14th-century Charles Bridge, fire fighters struggled to prevent debris borne along by the wild water of the Vltava from smashing into the ancient stonework.

Up to eight percent of the city of 1.2 million people was already under water, river officials said.

Government offices and the city hall have been evacuated and the old town's Josefov District, the historic Jewish quarter, has been cleared, forcing more than 50,000 residents to move in with friends or spend the night in emergency accommodation.