10 dead as rivers burst banks in Central Europe, flooding towns – Firstpost

More rivers burst their banks in central Europe on Monday and the death toll from the worst floods in at least two decades has risen. Some authorities have already started calculating the costs, while others are preparing for even higher water levels.

The border areas between the Czech Republic and Poland were hit hard over the weekend: heavy rains and rising water levels that have continued since last week caused some bridges to collapse, led to evacuations and left a trail of devastation.

At least 15 people have died in floods from Austria to Romania.

The Polish government was due to meet on Monday to declare a state of emergency.

Michal Piszko, mayor of the Polish town of Klodzko on the Czech border, said the waters there had receded but help was needed.

“We need bottled water and dry supplies because we have also set up a reception centre for flood victims who have been evacuated from the flooded areas,” he told private broadcaster RMF FM.

“The children will not go to school until the end of the week. Right now, half the city has no electricity.”

Polish Education Minister Barbara Nowacka said around 420 schools in four provinces had been closed. A hospital in the city of Nysa was evacuated.

In the Czech town of Jesenik across the Polish border, which was hit by floods on Sunday, clean-up efforts began after waters receded, leaving damaged cars and debris visible on the streets.

Jacek Sutryk, mayor of Wroclaw, Poland, said the city of 600,000 was preparing for water levels to peak on Wednesday.

“This high wave will move through Wroclaw for several days,” he said.

In the Czech Republic, the rising water level of the Morava River left the town of Litovel, 230 kilometers east of the capital Prague, with almost 10,000 inhabitants, about 70 percent underwater overnight and forced schools and health facilities to close, the mayor explained in a video on Facebook.

Flooded parts of the northeastern Czech regional capital Ostrava led to the closure of a power plant that supplies the city with heat and hot water, as well as two chemical plants.

More than 12,000 people were evacuated in the Czech Republic. A quarter of a million Czech households were without power over the weekend, although that number fell to 118,000 on Monday, the CTK news agency reported.

In Romania, six people died in floods over the weekend. An Austrian firefighter died on Sunday. In Lower Austria, two men aged 70 and 80 were found drowned in their homes, a police spokesman said on Monday.

The state news agency PAP reported five deaths in Poland and one person died in the Czech Republic, a police official said.

The Danube is also rising
Hungarian Interior Minister Sándor Pinter said the government in Budapest was fully ready to act and was concentrating for the time being on keeping the Danube and its tributaries within their banks.

Pinter said up to 12,000 troops were ready to help if needed.
Both the Slovak capital Bratislava and the Hungarian capital Budapest were preparing for the rise of the Danube.

In Austria, river and reservoir levels fell overnight as rain subsided, but authorities said they were preparing for a second wave as heavier rainfall was expected in the coming hours.