German railways put flood damage at $1.5 billion

German rail operator Deutsche Bahn says the floods that hit the east of the country last week caused it about 1.3 billion euros in damage.

That's about $1.5 billion.

And the bad news doesn't end there.

Volker Hentschel is head of plant maintenance and management at Deutsche Bahn.

He says the firm is pretty sure there's no insurance cover for much of the damage to buildings and networks.

Now it's still unclear when rail freight will resume for the region's steel industry.

Authorities are still working to determine the total cost of the floods.

The worst damage was done in western Germany and eastern Belgium.

German chancellor Angela Merkel called the damage 'immense'.