A person crosses a flooded road after heavy rains in Jesenik, Czech Republic, September 15, 2024.
David W Cerny | Reuters
The death toll rose in central European countries on Sunday after heavy rains caused widespread flooding and forced mass evacuations.
Several Central European countries have already been affected by severe flooding, including Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romaniawhile Slovakia and Hungary may follow, as a result of a low pressure system from northern Italy bringing record rainfall to the region since Thursday.
The floods claimed five lives in Romania, one each in Austria and Poland. In the Czech Republic, four people who were swept away by the waters are missing, the police announced.
It’s not over yet
Most areas of the Czech Republic have been affected as authorities have issued the highest flood warnings in around 100 locations across the country. But the situation was worse in two northeastern regions that recorded the heaviest rainfall in recent days, including the Jeseniky mountains near the Polish border.
In the town of Opava, up to 10,000 people out of a population of about 56,000 have been told to leave their homes for higher ground. Rescuers used boats to ferry people to safety in a neighborhood flooded by the raging Opava River.
“There is no reason to wait,” Mayor Tomáš Navrátil told Czech public radio. He said the situation was worse than the last devastating floods in 1997, known as the “flood of the century”.
“We must focus on saving lives,” Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Czech public television on Sunday. His government was due to meet on Monday to assess the damage.
The worst is “not yet behind us”, the Prime Minister warned as floods reached the country.
President Petr Pavel sounded more optimistic, saying “it is obvious that we have learned a lesson from the previous crisis.”
At least 4 missing and villages cut off
Thousands more were also evacuated in the towns of Krnov, which were almost completely flooded, and Cesky Tesin. The Oder River in Poland reached extreme levels in the city of Ostrava and Bochum, causing mass evacuations.
Ostrava, the regional capital is the third largest city in the Czech Republic. Its mayor, Jan Dohnal, said the city faces major traffic disruptions in the coming days. Almost no trains operated in the area.
Towns and villages in the Jeseniky Mountains, including the local center of Jesenik, were flooded and cut off by raging waters that turned roads into rivers. The military sent a helicopter to help with the evacuation.
Jesenik Mayor Zdenka Blistanova told Czech public television that many houses in her and other nearby towns had been damaged by the floods. Many bridges and roads have also been severely damaged.
Around 260,000 households were left without power on Sunday morning across the country, while traffic was disrupted on many roads, including the major D1 motorway.
A firefighter died as Lower Austria declared a disaster zone
A firefighter died after he “slipped on the stairs” while pumping out a flooded basement in the city of Tulln, Lower Austria fire chief Dietmar Fahrafellner told reporters on Sunday.
Authorities have declared the entire state of Lower Austria a disaster zone, and emergency personnel have so far evacuated 1,100 homes there.
“We are experiencing difficult and dramatic times in Lower Austria. For many people in Lower Austria these will probably be the most difficult hours of their lives,” said Johanna Mikl-Leitner, governor of Lower Austria.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Neuhammer, who was heading to the disaster zone in Lower Austria, said 2,400 troops were ready to support the relief effort.
In Vienna, the Vienna River overflowed its banks, flooding homes and forcing the first evacuations of homes near the river.
Romania reports another flood victim
Romanian authorities said on Sunday that another person had died in the hard-hit eastern province of Galati four deaths were reported there the day before, after unprecedented rain.
Dramatic floods in Poland
A man rides a bicycle near increased water levels from the Nysa Klodzka river at the Glebinow hydroelectric station in Nysa, Poland, September 15, 2024.
Lukasz Cynalewski Agencja Wyborcza.pl Via Reuters
In Poland, one person is presumed dead from flooding in the southwest, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Sunday.
Tusk said the situation was “dramatic” around the town of Klodzko, with about 25,000 residents, located in a valley in the Sudetes mountains near the border with the Czech Republic.
In Glucholazy, rising waters overflowed a river embankment and flooded roads and houses. Mayor Paweł Szymkowicz said, “we are drowning” and called on residents to evacuate to higher ground.
Power supplies and communications were disrupted in some flooded areas, and areas may resort to using the satellite-based Starlink service, Tusk said.
The change in weather has arrived after a warm start to September in the region. Scientists have documented The hottest summer on earthbreaking a record just a year ago.
A hotter vibe, driven by caused by manmay lead to heavier rainfall.