The mayor of a Polish city has called for all 44,000 residents to evacuate due to widespread flooding in central Europe. Nysa, the capital of Poland, has been hit by an embankment breaching and releasing a cascade of water into the town from a nearby lake. The death toll from the floods rose to 16, with more casualties recorded in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Austria. Budapest announced that it would close roads near the river Danube, citing the risk of flooding later this week.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced one billion zloty (£197m) would be allocated for flood victims in the country, while Poland also applied for EU relief funds. His government has declared a state of natural disaster. In Slovakia, the overflowing of the Danube River caused flooding in the Old Town area of Bratislava, with local media reporting that water levels exceeded 9m (30ft) and were expected to rise further. Hungary is bracing itself for floods in the coming days, with warnings in force along 500km (310 miles) of the Danube.
The highest rainfall totals have been in the Czech Republic, with Jesenik experiencing 473mm (19in) of rain since Thursday morning. The Czech fire service delivered bottles of drinking water to stranded villages, but people were told not to drink water from their taps or wells as it is likely heavily contaminated. In Austria, St Polten experienced more rain in four days than in the whole of the wettest autumn on record, in 1950.
Most parties paused campaigning for the federal elections due in less than two weeks, on 29 September. Villages and towns were submerged in eastern Romania, and Emil Dragomir, mayor of Slobozia Conachi, told media that the flooding had a devastating impact. Thousands of people have been evacuted in Poland, including the personnel and patients of a hospital in the town of Nysa. Roads have been badly disrupted and train traffic was suspended in many parts of the country.
Storm Boris is expected to move further south into Italy, reintensifying and bringing heavy rain. The Emilia-Romagna region is set to be worst hit, with 100-150mm of rain falling. The record rainfall seen in central Europe has been caused by various factors, including climate change.
(BBC)
