LIPOVA-RHINE/VINOVA, Czech Republic, Sept 15 (Askume) – Heavy rain continued to lash central Europe on Sunday, causing flooding in some areas, drowning one person in southwestern Poland and another in Austria. Thousands of people were evacuated in the Czech Republic.
The death toll rose to five on Sunday as a low-pressure system named Boris brought days of torrential rain and caused rivers from Poland to Romania to burst their banks. More rain and strong winds are expected until at least Monday.
Parts of the Czech Republic and Poland have been hit by the worst flooding in three decades, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate cities. 2.5 million homes in the Czech Republic are without power.
An Austrian firefighter died while battling floods in lower Austria, Deputy Chancellor Werner Kogler said. Authorities have declared the provinces surrounding the capital Vienna a disaster area.
A bridge collapsed in the historic Polish town of Gluchowaczyce, close to the Czech border. The Polish Meteorological Institute said a house was swept away in the hill town of Staronislawski, a bridge collapsed and a local dam burst, local media reported.
Residents of some flood-affected areas fear the situation may get worse.
“Things could get worse,” said Ferdinand Gampel, 84, a resident of the Czech Republic village of Višenova, 138 kilometres (86 miles) north of the capital Prague. “If it rains, (the water) comes from the Gizera Mountains. It will reach here in five or six hours,” he said.
Czech police said they were searching for three people who were in a car that got stuck in the Starice River near the village of Lipova-Lazne, about 235 kilometers (146 miles) east of Prague, on Saturday. The region has received about 500 millimeters (19.7 inches) of rain since Wednesday.
Askume footage showed floodwaters rising in Lipova-Ryn and neighbouring Jesenice, damaging some homes and sweeping away debris.
“We don’t know what will happen next,” said Mirek Burianek, a resident of Jasenic. “The internet doesn’t work, the phone doesn’t work… we are waiting for someone to come (to help).”
Lipova-Lajne resident Pavel Bili told Askume the floods were worse than those of 1997. “My house was flooded and I didn’t know if I would ever come back,” he said.
Police and the fire department used helicopters to rescue people trapped in the area. The head of the fire department told Czech television that more than 10,000 people had been evacuated in total across the country.
worse than ever
Across the Polish border, one person died in Klodzko county, which Prime Minister Donald Tusk said after a meeting with officials from major cities was the country’s worst-hit area.
The town of Kłodzko was partially submerged and the river level there exceeded the record high set in 1997, when floods in Poland killed 56 people.
Authorities in nearby Guvuhovac ordered people to evacuate on Sunday morning, though efforts to protect the town’s infrastructure failed to prevent the bridge from collapsing.
Officials in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, have raised their forecast for the level of the Danube River this weekend to more than 8.5 metres (27.9 feet), close to the 2013 record of 8.91 metres (29.2 feet).
Mayor Karácsony said: “According to predictions, the worst flooding in recent years is approaching Budapest, but we are ready to deal with it.”
