Floods in Central Europe claim 4 lives in Poland and 1 in the Czech Republic

PRAGUE – Severe floods hit Central Europe on Monday, killing four more people in Poland and one in the Czech Republic.

Following an emergency government meeting, Prime Minister Donald Tusk declared a state of emergency in the flooded areas to facilitate evacuation and rescue operations and to advance financial support for victims.

Tusk said at a press conference that the Finance Ministry had so far earmarked one billion zloty ($258,000) for immediate payments.

Water levels have dropped, roads are covered with debris and mud, bridges are damaged and some dams and embankments have broken. Schools and offices in the affected areas were closed on Monday and drinking water and food were delivered by trucks. Many Polish cities, including Warsaw, have appealed for food donations for flood survivors.

Experts are warning of a flood risk in Opole, a city of around 130,000 inhabitants, where the Oder River has reached flood levels and is overflowing its banks in some places. There are also concerns in Wroclaw, a city of around 640,000 inhabitants, where flooding is expected on Wednesday. The city was hit by a devastating flood in 1997 and the trauma is still being felt there.

The number of flood victims in southwest Poland has risen to five after the body of a surgeon returning from hospital was found in the town of Nysa on Monday morning, fire officials said.

Previously, the bodies of two women and two men were found in the cities of Bielsko-Biala and Ladek-Zdroj as well as in two villages.

Czech police said a woman had drowned in the northeast of the country, where record rainfall has been falling since Thursday. Seven other people were missing on Monday, up from four a day earlier.

The floods have already killed six people in Romania and one in Austria.

Czech authorities have declared a state of emergency in two northeastern regions, including the Jeseníky Mountains near the Polish border, where the worst flooding occurred.

In the northeast of the country, several cities were submerged on Sunday and thousands had to be evacuated. Rescue boats and military helicopters helped to bring people to safety.

On Monday, the water masses retreated from the mountainous regions, leaving behind destroyed houses and bridges and damaged roads.

In most parts of the country, the situation was expected to improve on Monday.

Floodwaters advancing towards the southeast of the Czech Republic inundated the town of Litovel, while the Oder River inundated parts of the city of Ostrava at the mouth of the Opava River. Hundreds of people had to be evacuated on Monday after a natural dam burst.

Firefighters and others worked to fix the problem.

Authorities in Ostrava, the country's third-largest city, warned against traveling there. Most people in the city had neither hot water nor heating.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala visited the town of Jesenik, one of the worst affected places.

“The worst is behind us and now we have to deal with all the damage,” Fiala said after the visit.

After flooding occurred in Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania, Slovakia and Hungary could be next to be affected as a low pressure system from northern Italy has dumped record rainfall in the region since Thursday.

In Hungary, the mayor of Budapest warned residents that the capital could face the worst flooding in a decade later this week, with waters from the Danube expected to overflow the city's lower quays by Tuesday morning.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán cancelled his planned foreign engagements, including an address to a European Parliament plenary session on Wednesday, where heated debates were expected over his conduct since Hungary took over the EU Council presidency in July.

“Until we reach the peak and have the worst behind us, of course I will not leave the country, I will stay here at home,” he said.

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony wrote on Facebook that the city would use a million sandbags to expand flood protection and urged residents to be extra careful near the river.

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Karel Janicek reported from Prague. Justin Spike contributed to this report from Budapest, Hungary.