The heaviest rains in years have killed at least seven people in central and eastern Europe, causing flooding and widespread disruption.
A low-pressure system called Cyclone Boris dumped a month of rain on several historic capitals of Europe, including Vienna, Bratislava and Prague. Heavy rain continued in this area till Sunday.
In Poland, one person drowned in Klodzko County and authorities advised residents of Mozczanka and Laka Prudnica to evacuate Sunday after a dam threatened to collapse collapsed. A firefighter died in action Sunday in Austria, the fire department told.
Rescue workers are working hard to rescue hundreds of people trapped there due to heavy rains. “The effects were the most critical in the seven regions,” Romanian Interior Minister Cătălin Predoiu told Antena 3. Although teams were able to rescue 95 people trapped in their homes, Pradio added that the bodies of the dead were found in their homes or yards.
Antenna 3 reported that around 5,400 houses were damaged in the southeastern region of Galati, which was the worst affected by the floods.
Residents of Pachia, a village in the area, expressed their shock at the devastation caused by the floods. “I’m left with nothing,” social worker Sofia Basalic told AFP, describing how the water flowed “into the house” and “collapsed the walls”, destroying her kitchen appliances. Daya and killed his farm animals.
Factory worker Jacka Stein, whose entire home was also flooded, said she had “not even a needle left” and was now relying on donated clothes.
Rescue services have been launched in hard-hit counties as authorities warn they have seen the heaviest rainfall in 100 years in the past 24 hours.
Rivers burst their banks in Poland and the Czech Republic. In southwestern Poland, 1,600 people were evacuated in Klodzko County as local rivers reached high water levels and broke their banks. Klodzko, a town of 25,000, was partially submerged on Sunday.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters on Sunday: “We have confirmed the first death from drowning here in Klodzko County.”
“The situation is still very dramatic in many places,” he added. “Unfortunately, these situations are repeating themselves in many places… But some residents sometimes underestimate the level of danger and refuse to evacuate.” are.”
Authorities in the Czech Republic are dealing with torrential rains across the country. Czech President Peter Pavel warned reporters on Sunday that the flooding was still “far from over” and that the country’s poorest regions could suffer the “greatest damage” in the coming days.
“The water is flowing all over the Kranov. We estimate that 70-80% of the city is under water. The water is almost in the town hall. Two-thirds of the square is flooded,” said the town’s deputy mayor, Miroslav Banar. said
In the southern municipality of Benešově nad Černou, authorities released footage on Saturday showing two women being rescued by boat from a flooded street after failing to follow mandatory evacuation orders.
In Germany, especially the southern and eastern states are preparing for floods. A flood warning has been issued for rivers in the state of Saxony.
In neighboring Austria, heavy rains have caused water levels in several rivers to rise and emergency services have been called in in parts of the country. Several municipalities in Lower Austria have declared a state of emergency as heavy rain continues into Sunday.
A red alert, the highest level of warning, has been issued for parts of Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia. According to Meteoalarm, this level of alert is associated with “severe meteorological phenomena” and the “possibility of major damage”.
EU leaders have also offered to help countries dealing with the rains.
European Commission chief Ursula van der Leyen expressed her “heartfelt solidarity” with EU countries affected by the floods and offered condolences to the “victims and their families” of the floods in a social media post.
