After the devastating, persistent rain, thousands of people from Poland to the Czech Republic, Romania and Austria are left with their existence in ruins. A water roller is also coming to Germany.
Wroclaw/Prague/Vienna/Dresden – The flood situation in several countries remains critical – and the number of victims is rising: At least 18 people have died in the devastating rain from Poland to Austria. In large parts of the huge disaster area, land is still under water for miles. Streets and fields are flooded, cellars and houses are flooded, dams and dikes are partially destroyed.
There was only a temporary relief when the rain stopped for a few hours in some places: meteorologists predicted further rainfall, and in Germany too, people along the Oder and Elbe rivers must prepare for the water rush from tributaries in neighboring countries.
Screamed for help for hours
Dramatic scenes unfolded in Untergrafendorf in Lower Austria at a stream that had become a raging river. A woman escaped from the suddenly rising water masses by climbing to the first floor of her house, but her husband did not make it. She screamed for help for hours but was not heard, a police spokesman said. The body of her husband (70) was later found; it was the third fatality in Austria. A body was also discovered in the water at the lido in Klosterneuburg. An autopsy is to determine the cause of death. It was initially unclear whether there could be a fourth flood victim in Austria.
In total, at least 18 people have died in Romania, Poland, the Czech Republic and Austria in recent days.
City center looks like after a bomb explosion
According to a police spokesman, four people have died in the Polish flood areas. They are three men and one woman from four different places, said a police spokesman at the crisis team meeting in Wroclaw. Meanwhile, local authorities in two cities ordered evacuations.
In the small town of Klodzko, around 100 kilometers south of Wroclaw, part of the pedestrian zone looks like it has been hit by a bomb. Shop windows and doors have been torn out of the ground floor shops. Inside, shelves have fallen over and loose cables are hanging around. Shattered pipes lie in a puddle of murky water. The Kłodzko Neisse, a tributary of the Oder, had overflowed its banks there.
The small town of Nysa is located on the same river, where the water entered the emergency room of the local district hospital, the PAP news agency reported. A total of 33 patients were brought to safety in rubber dinghies, including children and pregnant women. In the late afternoon, the situation in the town escalated dramatically, although the situation initially seemed to be under control. The mayor warned of the risk of a dyke breach that the development could “take the worst direction”. Long lines of cars could be seen on Polish television on the town’s bridges.
In view of the severe devastation in southwest Poland, the government has declared a state of emergency for the flood-affected areas of Lower Silesia, Silesia and Opole. This gives the authorities more power to issue orders, as civil liberties and rights are temporarily restricted. Prime Minister Donald Tusk has also announced the provision of aid funds amounting to one billion zloty (around 240 million euros) for the flood victims in the southwest of the country.
In the small town of Paczkow in southwestern Poland, the mayor has announced the immediate evacuation of the lower-lying parts of the town after a crack in the dam wall of a reservoir. “Nobody can guarantee that the damage will not get worse,” he warned in an appeal on social media.
Dresden: Water level clearly too high
In Saxony, anxious eyes are turned to the Czech Republic and the Elbe. Water masses from the neighboring country are reaching Germany with a delay. In Dresden, the water level of the Elbe is already more than four times higher than the normal level there of 1.42 meters, and it was expected that the six-meter mark would be exceeded during the day. During the flood of the century in 2002, it was 9.40 meters.
Flood of the century in the Czech Republic
Two more deaths have now been confirmed in the Czech Republic. This brings the number of confirmed deaths to three. Prime Minister Petr Fiala has already spoken of a once-in-a-century flood on many rivers in the east of the country.
In the third largest city of Ostrava, where the Oder and other rivers flow together, the situation is critical: “There have obviously been dykes breaches in several parts of the city,” said Environment Minister Petr Hladik after an emergency meeting. Some residents were brought to safety in rubber dinghies and helicopters. Disaster relief workers tried to fill the broken dykes with stones. The mining and industrial city, just 280 kilometers east of Prague, has around 285,000 inhabitants. A power plant had to be shut down. Electricity and mobile phone networks and drinking water supplies failed in many places.
In Litovel on the March (Morava), the authorities estimate that around 80 percent of the urban area was flooded. The mayor of the also badly affected town of Jesenik, Zdenka Blistanova, said on television: “It was an apocalypse, there is mud everywhere, everything is destroyed.” Since the end of last week, up to 500 liters of rain per square meter have fallen in the eastern Sudeten Mountains. In mountains in the north of the country, it was 300 to 400 liters, and in other parts of the Czech Republic up to 200 liters per square meter. According to the authorities, this is more than usually falls in several months.
Seven dead in Romania
In Romania, the east of the country was particularly affected. Six people died in the country over the weekend. On Monday, the seventh victim was found in the eastern Romanian village of Grivita near the city of Galati, reported the Romanian news agency Mediafax, citing the civil protection agency. Around 6,000 farmhouses were affected by the floods, many of which are located in remote villages. People climbed onto roofs to avoid being swept away by the floods. Hundreds of firefighters were deployed.
In Austria the situation remains dramatic
In the Austrian disaster area of Lower Austria, it is raining heavily again after a break overnight. “It is not over, it remains critical, it remains dramatic,” said the Prime Minister of Lower Austria, Johanna Mikl-Leitner.
“There is a high risk of dams breaking,” the authorities said. More than 200 roads in Lower Austria were closed and 1,800 buildings evacuated. There were also power outages. In Lower Austria, up to 370 liters of rain per square meter had fallen in recent days – several times the usual monthly amount.
There are still major problems with public transport in Vienna. There has been some relief on the Vienna River, which normally flows as a trickle but has been a raging river since Sunday, through the middle of the city. dpa
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