BERLIN — Torrential rains across northern and eastern Germany have left roads flooded, highways blocked and ************ answering countless ********* calls.

************ in Berlin declared a state of ********* in the German capital after hundreds of phone calls started coming in Thursday afternoon seeking help with flooded basements and underground parking spaces.

One of Berlin’s busiest highways, the A100, had to be shut down for hours because of the deluge. There were no reports of ********.

The eastern states of Brandenburg and Thuringia, as well as the city of Hannover and smaller towns in northern Germany, also reported flooded homes and streets due to heavy rain.