At least 16 people have died in central and eastern Europe after the devastating storm Boris, which has affected thousands of people and caused massive damage, the extent of which cannot be estimated at this time.
Torrential rains have lashed the region since Friday, causing rivers to overflow and thousands of residents to flee their homes, in some cases with the help of helicopters, while others took shelter on the roofs of their homes or cars.
At Romania at least 7 people dead, Austria reported two new deaths, two men aged 70 and 80, following the death of a firefighter a day earlier.
In Czech Republicpolice confirmed to the state radio network that one person had drowned and that seven people were missing.
For her part, her police Poland reported four victims in the flooded areas, with the country’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk announcing an immediate aid amounting to one billion zlotys, i.e. 235 million euros.
Across the areas that authorities have declared a state of natural disaster for a 30-day period, hundreds of thousands of households have been left in the dark or without water, roads have been cut in half and rail services have been disrupted.
In some cities, such as the Polish community of Klondzko, the water level has begun to recede, revealing the extent of the devastation: streets have been flooded with debris, windows have been broken and light poles have been destroyed.
Two hours away, the Czech town of Krnov is facing disaster in the wake of unprecedented flooding.
Further south, in Austriathe situation “remains dramatic,” Johanna Mikl-Leitner, governor of the state of Lower Austria, warned during a press conference.
Twelve dams have broken, 13 communities remain cut off from the rest of the world, and around 2,000 people have mobilized to rescue those under threat.
In Vienna, where rain continues, four metro lines are out of service as the network is threatened by the Wien River and the Danube Canal that run through the capital.
Like other vessels, a riverboat that was supposed to travel to Budapest is unable to sail and remains stranded at the dock carrying 102 passengers, most of them Swiss, according to Swiss company Thurgau Travel.
“The rainfall was so heavy that rain gauge maps, which use bright colors to show the heaviest rains, ran out of shades and used white instead”commented Hannah Cloke, a professor of hydrology at the UK’s University of Reading.
Before this storm, “central and eastern Europe had experienced a sweltering summer, with drought conditions in many areas,” she noted, a type of situation “increasingly common due to climate change.”
At Romaniathe province most affected by the bad weather is Galatsi (southeast).
In Slobozia Konaci, it is currently impossible to assess the scale of the disaster, according to mayor Emil Dragomir, who answered a question from AFP while appealing for donations for the benefit of dozens of children affected by the floods.
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