PRAGUE, Sept 16 (Askume) – Factories and shops across central Europe stopped production lines and shut their doors on Monday as floods killed at least 10 people and forced thousands to flee, inundating cities from Poland to Romania.
The Borsodchem chemical plant in Ostrava, an industrial city of 290,000 people in northeastern Czech Republic, has been closed, a spokesman for Borsodchem, a company partly owned by China’s Wanhua Chemical Group (600309.SS), said.
OKK Koksovany coking plant, one of the biggest producers of foundry coke in Europe, has stopped chemical production but continues to heat its coke cells to the minimum temperature, spokesman Jindrich Vanek told Askume.
“The water level has started rising and the embankments might have broken,” he said. “We have no electricity and we use coke gas to heat the batteries to keep them at a minimum technical level.”
The border area between the Czech Republic and Poland was badly affected over the weekend after several days of heavy rain . Some bridges collapsed, houses were destroyed and villages and towns in eastern Romania were flooded.
While rivers on the Czech-Polish border began to recede on Monday, flooding is spreading to more areas and major cities in both countries have been put on alert.
Veolia Energy said in a statement it had shut down its Trebovice power and heating plant, cutting off hot water and heating supplies to much of Ostrava after flood damage.
“Heating and hot water supply in Ostrava is currently disrupted,” the company said.
The Confederation of Czech Industry said some companies not directly affected by the floods still had to shut down production in hard-hit areas due to problems transporting materials by rail.
Power company Tauron (TPE.WA) said six hydropower plants in southern Poland were out of operation because of the floods.
More than 60,000 people were without power on Monday morning, its news service said.
Polish retailer Zabka said about 80 stores are currently closed, mainly in the area around the southwestern city of Klodzko. Its press department told Askume by email on Monday that stores were closed due to flooding, power outages or evacuation orders by emergency services.
The retailer, owned by private equity fund CVC Capital Partners, said it has provided water, food and transportation support to its franchisees and is gathering information about their needs.
