The national water management directorate OVF has mobilised some 400 staff members from across the country to assist with flood defence operations at the River Rába which is expected to peak at a record water level at Körmend near the Austrian border on Monday evening, the authority has said. The Rába peaked at Szentgotthárd on Sunday evening at 422 centimetres, a water level that required the highest, third degree alert, OVF said, adding that the river was flooding “intensively”. The staff have so far prepared 120,000 sandbags to build a 2.5km flood defence barrier. Flood alerts are in place on 912.4 kilometre-long river sections with a highest degree alert put in place along 10.42 kms, said OVF.