Several dead, missing as Storm Boris wreaks havoc across eastern and central Europe
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Four people have died in Romania in floods triggered by Storm Boris.
PHOTO: AFP
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WARSAW - One person drowned in Poland and an Austrian fireman died responding to floods, the authorities said on Sept 15 as Storm Boris inundated parts of central and eastern Europe with torrential rain.
Since Sept 12, parts of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia have been hit by high winds and unusually fierce rain.
The storm has already caused the death of five people in Romania, and thousands have been evacuated from their homes across the continent.
“We have the first confirmed death by drowning, in the Klodzko region” on the Polish-Czech border, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on the morning of Sept 15.
“The situation is very dramatic,” he told reporters after a meeting in Klodzko town, which was partly under water as the local river rose to 665cm in the morning, well above the alarm level of 240.
He was travelling through the south-west of the country, which has been hardest hit by the floods.
Around 1,600 people have been evacuated in Klodzko, and Polish authorities have called in the army to support firefighters on the scene.
A fireman in north-eastern Austria died in floods while responding to floods in Lower Austria, which has been classified as a natural disaster zone, said the region’s governor on Sept 15.
Emergency services had made nearly 5,000 interventions overnight in the state of Lower Austria, where flooding had trapped many residents in their homes.
Polish authorities on Sept 14 shut the Golkowice border crossing with the Czech Republic after a river flooded its banks, closed several roads, and halted trains on the line linking the towns of Prudnik and Nysa.
In the nearby village of Glucholazy, local resident Zofia Owsiaka watched with fear as the fast-flowing waters of the swollen Biala river surged past.
“Water is the most powerful force of nature. Everyone is scared,” the 65-year-old said.
Fellow resident Piotr Jakubiec, 39, added: “This is the second time in my life that I’ve seen such a phenomenon. It’s a nightmare for the people who live here.”
In the Czech Republic, police reported that four people were missing on Sept 15.
Three were in a car that had been swept into a river in the north-eastern town of Lipova-Lazne, and another man was missing after being swept away by floods in the south-east.
A dam in the south of the country burst its banks, flooding towns and villages downstream.
Deaths in Romania
A fifth person died in Romania, rescue services said on Sept 15.
“Another deceased victim has been identified, bringing the total number of deceased to five,” rescuers said in a statement. “Four people had previously been found dead in the same region of Galati, in the country’s southeast.”
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said: “We are again facing the effects of climate change, which are increasingly present on the European continent, with dramatic consequences.
“We must continue to strengthen our capacity to anticipate extreme weather events.”
Hundreds of people have been rescued across 19 parts of the country, rescue services said, releasing a video of flooded homes in a village by the Danube River.
“This is a catastrophe of epic proportions,” said Mr Emil Dragomir, mayor of Slobozia Conachi village in Galati, where he said 700 homes had been flooded.
Parts of north-east Austria were declared a natural disaster area.
Some areas of the Tyrol were blanketed by up to a metre of snow – an exceptional situation for mid-September, which saw temperatures of up to 30 deg C last week.
Rail services were suspended in the country’s east early on Sept 15 and several metro lines were shut down in the capital Vienna, where the Wien river was threatening to overflow its banks, according to APA news agency.
Emergency services made nearly 5,000 interventions overnight in the state of Lower Austria, where flooding had trapped many residents in their homes.
Firefighters have intervened around 150 times in Vienna since Sept 13 to clear roads blocked by storm debris and pump water from cellars, local media reported.
Neighbouring Slovakia declared a state of emergency in the capital Bratislava.
Heavy rain is expected to continue until at least Sept 16 in the Czech Republic and Poland. AFP
