At least seven people have died after some of the heaviest rain in years hit central and eastern Europe, causing flooding and widespread disruption.
A slow-moving low pressure system dubbed Storm Boris dumped a month’s worth of rain onto several of Europe’s historic capitals, including Vienna, Bratislava and Prague. The heavy rainfall continued to pummel the region into Sunday.
One person died by drowning in Klodzko county, southwest Poland, on Sunday. In Austria, a firefighter died in action on Sunday, the fire department told CNN.
In Romania, a fifth person was also confirmed to have died from flooding on Sunday, CNN affiliate Antena 3 reported.
Rescuers have been working hard to rescue hundreds of people left stranded by heavy rainfall there. “The effects were most critical in seven localities,” Romania’s Interior Minister Cătălin Predoiu told Antena 3. Although teams managed to save 95 people trapped in their homes, the bodies of the dead were found in either their houses or yards, Predoiu added.
Around 5,400 houses have been damaged in the southeastern region of Galati which has been hardest hit by the flooding, Antena 3 reported.
Rescue services have been launched in hard-hit counties as authorities warn that they have recorded the heaviest rainfall in 100 years over the past 24 hours.
Rivers have burst their banks in Poland and the Czech Republic. In southwest Poland, 1,600 people were evacuated in Klodzko county as local rivers reached record high water levels and broke their banks. Klodzko, a town of 25,000, was left partially submerged in water on Sunday.
Poland’s Prime Minister, Donald Tusk told reporters Sunday: “We have the first confirmed death by drowning, here in the Klodzko County.”
“The situation is still very dramatic in many place,” he added. “Unfortunately, these situations are repeating themselves in many places… but some residents sometimes underestimate the level of threat and refuse to evacuate.”
Significant flooding is expected to continue in the Czech Republic, where authorities have ordered mandatory evacuations for some areas. Footage released by the Czech Republic Fire and Rescue Service showed flooded streets in the southern Benešově nad Černou municipality, where two women who didn’t follow evacuation orders had to be rescued by boat.
In Germany, southern and eastern states in particular are preparing for flooding. Flood warnings have been issued for rivers in the state of Saxony.
In neighbouring Austria, heavy rainfall has caused water levels to rise in several rivers and rescue services have been called out to parts of the country. Many municipalities in Lower Austria have declared a state of emergency as heavy rainfall continued into Sunday.
Red alerts, the highest level of warning, have been issued for portions of Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia. This level of alert is associated with “intense meteorological phenomena” and “major damage is likely,” according to Meteoalarm. (CNN)
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