The situation in Eastern Europe is worsening by the day due to the devastating floods caused by storm Boris, which has left a trail of destruction and numerous deaths in its wake. In Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania, torrential rains and strong winds that began last Thursday have triggered a series of overflows and floods that have isolated cities, destroyed homes and generated a crisis.
In the Czech Republic, Moravia-Silesia is one of the hardest hit regions. More than 12,000 people have been evacuated and hundreds of thousands of households are without electricity due to damage to high-voltage networks. The town of Litovel, which is crossed by the Morava River, is particularly affected, with 80% of its territory flooded, local authorities reported. Mayor Viktor Kohout stressed the gravity of the situation: “We are cut off from the world, no one can enter or leave here, except for the firefighters,” said Kohout.
The Krasovka River has also burst its banks, killing one person and leaving seven others missing. In Prague, the flow of the Vltava River has dropped to 752 cubic metres per second, after reaching 835 cubic metres at its peak, so the capital has declared a second-degree flood. The figures reported by the Czech Republic have led the authorities to compare the current situation with the similar catastrophe in 1997, which claimed 50 lives.
🔴 Daños catastróficos ha dejado la tormenta #Boris durante su paso por #Kłodzko, #Polonia 🇵🇱.
📹: @Centinela_35 pic.twitter.com/FChvL59kZ9
— Luis Gabriel Velázquez (@soyluisgabriel1) September 16, 2024
Austria has so far recorded three deaths from the floods. Two people died in their homes in Lower Austria and a firefighter was killed during rescue work last weekend. More than 800 people have been evacuated by helicopter and around 12,000 homes are without electricity. The floodwaters have broken 12 dams and there is no drinking water in 23 towns. The State Agency for Lower Austria has declared several towns as “catastrophic areas” and work is underway to strengthen dams and rescue those trapped.
In Poland, flooding has been mainly in the south of the country. Firefighters found the lifeless body of the third fatality in the town of Nysia, and authorities are investigating the death of another woman whose body was found in her apartment also in Nysia. Thousands of people have been evacuated from the regions of Silesia, Opole and Lesser Poland. The Pilchowice dam is on the verge of overflowing, prompting urgent evacuations in nearby towns.
The Polish government is considering declaring a state of emergency in the worst-affected areas. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has called an urgent Council of Ministers meeting to determine the scope of the declaration of a disaster area. The head of the Silesian regional government, Marek Wójcik, announced this morning aid of between 25,000 and 50,000 euros for those whose homes have been destroyed by the storm.
According to data from the Polish Meteorological Institute, the water level in some rivers has exceeded all records ever recorded, and in some places it has exceeded the maximum risk level by 5.5 metres, although at dozens of measuring stations the measuring systems have been broken due to strong winds or the floods themselves.
In Romania, storm Boris has claimed six lives, all of them in Galati County. This town in the east of the country, which is the worst affected area, is close to the border with Moldova and on the Danube River, so further flooding in other countries and cities cannot be ruled out.
The mayor of Slobozia Conachi, Emil Dragomir, told Digi24.ro that 76% of the buildings have already been damaged by flooding, which is considerably more than the damage recorded in the river floods of 2006, 2013 and 2016, when 50% were damaged.
“It’s a total mess now. I don’t know what we’re going to do after we clean up people’s homes, because they can’t live there anymore,” the mayor lamented.
More than 750 firefighters are involved in rescue operations, and temporary camps and modular housing have been set up for those affected. Romanian authorities have revealed that the situation on the roads is critical, with many roads blocked or closed as a precaution.
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Cioalcu and President Klaus Iohannis have promised to rebuild the affected homes. The Interior Ministry estimates that more than 15,000 people have been affected by the severe storm.
Romanian police have reported that motor traffic on several roads is blocked by flooding or has been closed as a precaution.
In all affected regions, emergency services remain on alert, working tirelessly to care for the population and mitigate the damage caused by ‘Boris’, which has tested the resilience and response capacity of entire communities in Eastern Europe.
#Storm #Boris #devastates #central #eastern #Europe #causing #deaths #thousands #evacuations #Diario #Página
