Storm Boris casualties rise as floods ravage Central Europe
Death toll due to devastating flooding reaches at least 19 as many areas brace for more rain.
At least 19 people are reported to have died in flooding caused by Storm Boris in Central and Eastern Europe, with many countries braced for more torrential rain.
Rivers were still spilling their banks in the Czech Republic on Tuesday, while the River Danube was rising in Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. The flooding is the worst the region has seen in at least two decades, authorities report.
Border areas between the Czech Republic and Poland were especially hit hard over the weekend, with surging water levels leading to collapsed bridges and damaged cars and houses.
Seven people are now reported to have died in Romania, where waters have receded since the weekend. Four have been declared dead in Poland, another five in Austria, and three in the Czech Republic. Dozens more are understood to be missing.
The Czech police said one woman drowned in the northeast of the country near the border with Poland. Seven other people were missing on Monday, up from four a day earlier.
Emergency services in Austria discovered an 81-year-old woman dead in her flooded house on Tuesday, adding to the country’s toll. Two men aged 70 and 80 were found drowned in their homes in the Lower Austria region surrounding Vienna, while a firefighter died on Sunday. The cause of death of the other victim remains unclear.
In Poland, the city of Wroclaw, which boasts 600,000 residents, was preparing on Tuesday for the Oder river to peak. The waters have been forecast to hit their highest on Wednesday.
Meeting in the city with Prime Minister Donald Tusk, national fire chief Mariusz Feltynowski reported on Tuesday on overnight efforts to seal the embankment in the nearby town of Nysa, where military helicopters had joined the operation to drop sandbags.
The previous day, the town’s hospital was evacuated, with patients including pregnant women and elderly people taken away in rafts.
Many Polish cities, including Warsaw, have called for food donations for flood survivors.
Reporting from the town of Klodzko in Poland, Al Jazeera’s Assed Baig said the situation in the town was devastating.
“When the floods came through this historical town, it wreaked havoc … people are trying to salvage what they can … people are appealing for help. They want food, clothes and electricity,” he said.
He said people have been putting sandbags in the streets and in front of their houses in preparation for more floods.
“But it is difficult to prepare. When the first [flood] wave hit, it was very high and there was no warning,” Baig said. He said many feared that there could be “worse to come”.
Poland’s government announced on Monday a state of natural disaster and said it had set aside 1 billion zlotys ($260m) to help victims.
Tusk said he was in touch with the leaders of other affected countries and that they would ask the European Union for financial aid.
“From today, anyone affected by the flood – and here I mean through flooding, collapsed buildings, flooded garages, lost cars, losses linked to the flood – will be able to easily” claim funds, he added.
Czech authorities on Monday declared a state of emergency in two northeastern regions, which have seen the worst flooding, including in the Jeseniky mountains near the Polish border.
A number of towns and cities were submerged on Sunday in the northeast, with thousands evacuated. Military helicopters joined rescuers on boats in efforts to transport people to safety.
Floods moving towards the southeastern part of the country inundated the town of Litovel, while on Monday the Oder flooded parts of the city of Ostrava at the confluence with the Opava river, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people after a natural dam broke.
Authorities in Ostrava warned people against travelling to the Czech Republic’s third-largest city, where most residents were without hot water and heating amid temperatures that have dropped since Thursday from about 30 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) to 10C (50F).
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said more than 13,000 people have been evacuated across the country.
In Austria, the levels of rivers and reservoirs fell overnight as rain eased, but officials have said they are bracing for a second wave as heavier rain is expected.
After hitting Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania, flooding could affect Slovakia and Hungary next as a result of a low-pressure system from northern Italy that has been dumping record rainfall in the region since Thursday.
In Hungary, at the historic towns of Visegrad and Szentendre, north of Budapest, authorities have put mobile dams in place. The capital has said it is preparing for waters to peak near record levels.
