A person wades through a flooded road after heavy rain in Jesenik, Czech Republic, September 15, 2024.
David W. Cerny | David W. Reuters
Another night of torrential rains battered central Europe, forcing mass evacuations in the worst-hit areas of the Czech Republic, where flooding reached extreme levels on Sunday.
Meteorologists warned that the situation could get worse with more heavy rains likely to return overnight as water levels in most rivers rise and flooding sweeps across the country.
Authorities issued the highest flood warnings in nearly 90 places across the country, as well as in two northeastern regions that have recorded the heaviest rainfall in recent days, including the Jesenik Mountains near the Polish border.
In the city of Opava, up to 10,000 people out of a population of about 56,000 have been asked to leave their homes for higher ground. Rescuers used boats to transport people to safety in communities flooded by the raging Opawa River.
“There is no reason to wait,” Mayor Tomas Navratil told Czech public radio. He said the situation was worse than the last devastating flood in 1997, dubbed the “flood of the century.”
“We must concentrate on saving lives,” Prime Minister Peter Fiala told Czech public television on Sunday. His government is likely to meet on Monday to assess the damage.
At least four people are missing and the village is cut off from the outside world
Thousands more people were evacuated from the towns of Krnov and Cesky Tesin. The Oder River, which flows into Poland, is expected to reach extreme levels in the city of Ostrava and subsequently Bohumin.
Towns and villages in the Jesenik mountainous region, including the local center of Jesenik, were inundated and isolated by raging floods, with roads turning into rivers. The military sent a helicopter to help with the evacuation.
Four people were swept away and missing, police said.
About 260,000 homes across the country were without power on Sunday morning, disrupting traffic on many roads including the main D1 motorway.
One firefighter dies as Lower Austria declares disaster area
Dietmar Fahrafellner, chief of the Lower Austria fire department, told reporters on Sunday that a firefighter “slipped on the stairs” while clearing a flooded basement in the town of Tulln. , and died unfortunately.
Authorities declared the entire state of Lower Austria a disaster area. The situation remains tense, especially at the Ottenstein reservoir, which is expected to reach maximum capacity on Sunday.
Romania reports another flood victim
Romanian authorities said on Sunday that one more person had died in the worst-hit eastern Galati county, a day after four people were reported dead after unprecedented rains.
Severe floods in Poland
A man rides a bicycle near the high water level of the Nysa Klozka River at the Glebino hydroelectric power plant in Niša, Poland, September 15, 2024.
Lukasz Cynalewski | Lukasz Cynalewski Agencja Wyborcza.pl Image source: Reuters
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Sunday that one person was expected to die in flooding in southwestern Poland.
Tusk said the situation around the town of Klodzko, which has about 25,000 residents and is located in a valley in the Sudeten Mountains near the border with the Czech Republic, was “very serious.”
In Gluciolachi, rising water levels overflowed river banks and flooded streets and houses. Mayor Paweu Simkovic said, “We are drowning” and called on residents to evacuate to higher ground.
Tusk said energy supplies and communications were cut off in some flooded areas, which may turn to satellite-based Starlink services.
Several Central European countries, including Romania, Austria, Germany, Slovakia and Hungary, suffered severe flooding as a low-pressure system in northern Italy brought heavy rainfall to a wide area.
The weather changed after a hot start to the region in September. Scientists have recorded Earth’s hottest summer, beating the record set a year ago.
Warming caused by man-made climate change may lead to more intense rainfall.
