Flooding in Europe: At least nine people dead, thousands evacuated

Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary are suffering from unprecedented flooding caused by storm Boris (called Annette in Germany) that swept over the mainland. Many towns and villages are completely flooded, tens of thousands of residents are left without electricity. Emergency evacuations are underway in many regions. Areas around Vienna have been declared a disaster zone. At least nine people have already died as a result of the flooding. Edition Deutche Welle collected a chronicle of extraordinary events.

Photo: Floods © Tomas Hajek | Dreamstime.com

Czech Republic

The Czech town of Krnov is almost completely flooded. Deputy Mayor Miroslav Binar told the CTK news agency that 70% to 80% of the town is under water.

The Opava and Opavice rivers meet in Krnov, a town of just under 23 people located about 000 kilometers east of Prague.

According to Binar, it is now too late to evacuate the residents of Krnov, and the situation is worse than during the 1997 flood.

Helicopters were used to rescue people in distress. The situation was also critical in many other cities in the east of the country, such as Opava and Ostrava.

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Meanwhile, Czech President Petr Pavel has issued an appeal for donations. In a post on X, he noted that the worst-hit areas, such as Jeseník and Frýdlant, are also among the poorest regions in the country. Police and fire services used helicopters to evacuate people from the Jeseník region. The head of the emergency services told national television that more than 10 people had been evacuated.

Czech police said they were searching for three missing people who were in a car that plunged into the Staric River on Saturday, September 14, near the village of Lipova Lazne in eastern Czechia.

In the Czech Republic, the northwestern administrative region of Ústí nad Labem, bordering Germany, was hit the hardest, with more than 20 households without power. The highest flood alert level was issued for about 000 locations across the Czech Republic. Authorities suspended all shipping.

The government is meeting in Prague on September 16 to decide on emergency financial assistance for those affected.

Austria

The water level in the Wien River in the western part of the Austrian capital rose from 15 centimeters to 50 meters on September 2,26, emergency services reported.

Pedestrian and bicycle paths were flooded, and restaurant terraces along the river banks were underwater.

In the suburb of Penzing, northwest of Vienna, the river also burst its banks in some places. Residents of nearby houses were evacuated, and streets and an underground car park were under water.

Power was cut in three districts of the capital. The energy company promised to restore service as soon as possible. Two subway lines in Vienna were partially closed.

A firefighter battling flooding in Lower Austria has died, Austrian Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler reported on the social network X. He was pumping water out of the basement of one of the flooded houses.

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"We are going through difficult and dramatic hours," said state governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner. "For many people in Lower Austria, these will be the hardest hours of their lives. We will do everything possible to contain the water and protect the country and its people."

Emergency crews responded to almost 5000 calls overnight from September 14 to 15 in the state of Lower Austria, where flooding left many residents trapped in their homes. Authorities declared the state of Lower Austria, which surrounds Vienna, a disaster area.

Lower Austria's deputy governor Stefan Pernkopf warned of "massive flooding" and possible landslides in some places, the APA news agency reported, adding that "the situation is worsening due to massive rainfall across the country."

Several municipalities issued evacuation orders and rubber boats were used.

Poland

A dam in Stronie Śląskie, in the Lower Silesia region, has burst and water from the Biała Łodzka River is now flowing freely into the Nysa-Kłodzka catchment area, officials said.

The town of Stronie Śląskie is located in the Kłodzko Valley on the border between Poland and the Czech Republic. Police have sent a rescue helicopter to the area to transport people in the water to safety. Army soldiers are also at the scene.

On the evening of September 14, a dam burst in the nearby mountain village of Medzhygozhe. It was built at the beginning of the XNUMXth century near the border with the Czech Republic.

Polish rail operator PKP has suspended rail service to the neighbouring Czech Republic due to severe flooding. Trains from Poland to the Czech Republic will stop at the last station before the border.

One person drowned and 1600 people were evacuated in the Klodzko region of southwestern Poland as local rivers rose to record levels after days of heavy rain.

"The situation is very dangerous, it is most dramatic in the Kłodzko district," Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters on September 15 after a meeting with the crisis management team in the city of Kłodzko.

Around 17 households there were left without electricity, and in some areas mobile phone service was cut off. Access to roads to the towns of Lądek-Zdrój and Stronie Śląskie was effectively cut off, Tusk said.

Kłodzko, a town of 25, was partially flooded as the local river rose by almost 000 metres, exceeding the record set during a major flood in 7 that partially damaged the town and killed 1997 people in Poland.

Germany

The Elbe River in Schön, near the border with the Czech Republic, could reach 17 metres (7,50 ft) during the day on Sept. XNUMX, government officials said, enough to trigger the highest alert level in the area.

The water level has already reached 5,59 metres (1,58 feet), three times the normal average of XNUMX metres (XNUMX feet). Authorities have warned that if the water rises to a critical level, they will have to raise the highest alert level because the dams could overflow or burst.

The state capital Dresden is located on the Elbe. The historic city centre will be protected from rising water levels by mobile barriers that were installed on 16 September.

Authorities in Dresden have completed dismantling parts of a bridge that collapsed into the Elbe River on Sept. 11 ahead of expected flooding. Initial demolition work was completed on Sept. 14, the city's environmental agency said.

Hungary

Officials in the Hungarian capital Budapest expect the Danube to rise above 8,5 metres, close to the record 8,91 metres recorded in 2013.

"One of the biggest floods in recent years is predicted to be approaching Budapest, but we are prepared to cope with it," said Budapest Mayor Gergely Karcsony.

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Romania

Five people died in Romania as a storm swept across eastern and central Europe, emergency services said.

"Another victim has been identified, bringing the total number of fatalities to five," the rescuers said in a statement.

Earlier, on September 14, four bodies were found in the worst-hit region of Galati, where 5000 homes were damaged.

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