Heavy rain floods entire areas in the Czech Republic, Poland and Austria. Several people die. And in eastern Germany, too, rising water levels are causing concern among residents.
Berlin – Poland and the Czech Republic are battling the consequences of a flood of the century and the situation in Lower Austria is also critical after heavy rainfall. People have lost their lives in several EU countries because of the floods: a fireman died in Austria, a man in Poland and six people died in Romania.
Water levels are also rising in eastern Germany, although the situation there has so far been less dramatic. It is expected that the benchmark level of alarm level 3 (6.00 meters) will be reached on Monday in Dresden on the Elbe. Alarm level 2 was declared there on Sunday evening after the water level had risen to 5.01 meters (as of 6 p.m.) according to the city. For comparison: the normal level of the Elbe at the Dresden gauge is around 2 meters, and during the flood of the century in 2002 it reached 9.40 meters at its peak.
Exceptional situation in Lower Austria
In the Austrian state of Lower Austria, torrential floods swept through streets and settlements during the night. With the rain continuing, thousands of rescue workers are working tirelessly. People have to be brought to safety and dams made of sandbags have to be built to protect houses and cellars.
Although the rain eased a little in some regions during the night, weather services have predicted further heavy rainfall for Monday. Prime Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner spoke on Sunday of an “exceptional situation such as we have never experienced before”.
The state around Vienna has been hit harder by flooding than ever before and has been declared a disaster area. At the Ottenstein reservoir, water is being released in a controlled manner through flood gates. This is intended to prevent sudden flood waves, but initially exacerbates the dramatic flood situation downstream along the already swollen Kamp river. Local residents and thousands of volunteers tried to protect their houses with sandbag walls.
In the capital Vienna, the Vienna River has gone from a trickle to a raging torrent. The flooding there is as high as is statistically expected only once every 100 years. New rain on Monday is likely to cause the Vienna River to swell further because it has many tributaries from other flood areas, said Vienna’s mayor Michael Ludwig.
Czech government wants to decide on financial aid
The situation is particularly dramatic in the Czech town of Krnov, which was almost completely flooded on Sunday. According to the CTK agency, deputy mayor Miroslav Binar said the situation was worse than the flood disaster of 1997. The Opava and Opavice rivers converge in the small town, which has 23,000 inhabitants and is located around 240 kilometers east of Prague. Helicopters were deployed to rescue people in distress from the air. The situation was also critical in many other places in the east of the country, such as the cities of Opava and Ostrava.
The government in Prague will meet on Monday to decide on emergency aid for those affected. Czech President Petr Pavel called for donations for the flood victims. He noted that the areas most affected – around Jesenik in the Jeseniky Mountains and Frydlant in northern Bohemia – are also some of the poorest regions in the country.
High water levels in Poland
After a dam broke in the Snow Mountains on Poland’s border with the Czech Republic, the situation in the small Polish town of Klodzko worsened further on Sunday. A new flood wave has reached the town, Mayor Michal Piszko told the PAP news agency. The Kłodzko Neisse, a tributary of the Oder, now has a water level of 6.84 meters near Klodzko. An average water level of around one meter is usual, a fire department spokesman told the German Press Agency.
According to police, a man died in the village of Krosnovice, not far from Klodzko. The emergency services were initially unable to rescue him because the village was flooded. A dam had previously broken in Stronie Slaskie in Lower Silesia. The water is now flowing from there via the Biala Ladecka river into the Kłodzko Neisse.
More rain in Bavaria
The flood situation in Bavaria remains tense. But it is unlikely to get any worse than it is now, predicted the Bavarian Flood Intelligence Service (HND) on Sunday. Until Tuesday, there will be persistent rain, particularly in the south and southeast of the state.
Due to global warming, extreme weather is becoming more frequent in many regions. Flooding is one of the consequences. dpa
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