Torrential rains caused rivers to overflow across parts of Central Europe on Sunday, killing two people in Austria and Poland, forcing thousands to flee their homes and disrupting electricity and transport infrastructure.
In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed the country’s first fatality from flooding during an emergency briefing in the town of Kłodzko, near the Czech border.
Tusk called the situation in southwestern Poland “drastic” and urged residents to follow local evacuation orders.
The water level of the river Nysa Kłodzka in Kłodzko was 6.65 meters on Sunday morning. The average water level is 1 meter.
According to police, the fatal victim was a man whose house was flooded in the village of Krosnovice, not far from Kłodzko.
Tusk said 1,600 people in the Kłodzko district have been brought to safety so far and he expects further evacuations.
Parts of the hardest-hit areas have experienced power outages and mobile communications networks. Residents of Kłodzko have been told to boil their tap water before drinking it.
On the other side of the border in the Czech Republic, at least four people are missing, according to authorities.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala called on citizens to follow the instructions of emergency services, noting that some people are refusing to follow evacuation orders and leave their homes.
“In doing so, they not only endanger themselves, but also the people who have to rescue them if the situation becomes dramatic,” he said on public broadcaster CT.
“We must take into account that the worst is not over yet,” he warned.
In the city of Opava and other border areas near Poland, thousands of people had to be evacuated from their homes as entire communities were flooded. A mudslide cut off the mountain village of Malá Úpa from the outside world.
More than 250,000 Czech households were without electricity, the CTK agency reported, citing energy suppliers. Rain had softened the ground, causing numerous trees to fall onto overhead power lines and high-voltage transmission lines.
Tense scenes also took place in Austria, where a firefighter died while working in a flood-hit building in the state of Lower Austria, around the capital Vienna.
“We are going through difficult and dramatic times in Lower Austria,” said Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner.
“For many people in Lower Austria, these will be the hardest hours of their lives,” she added. “We will do everything we can to hold back the water and protect the country and its people.”
Lower Austria was declared a disaster area after water levels in several rivers in the state rose dramatically.
In some communities north of Vienna, firefighters had to rescue people who had been trapped in their homes overnight. One person had to be rescued after driving into floodwaters on the Pielach River, west of Vienna. Firefighters are using rubber boats in some places.
The water of the River Wien, which flows through Vienna, flowed high and fast on Sunday, but in most places the meter-high walls still held out.
The water level in the river at the Kennedy Bridge in western Vienna has risen from 50 centimetres to 2.26 metres in one day, emergency services report.
Walking and cycling paths are flooded and the terraces of restaurants on the banks of the river are under water.
In the suburb of Penzing, northwest of Vienna, the River Wien burst its banks in some places. Houses were evacuated while streets and an underground parking garage were flooded.
However, Mayor Michael Ludwig reassured the public: “All in all, we have the situation well under control.”
He said he was encouraged by the fact that the Danube, Vienna’s main river, was stable.
At least four people were killed in eastern Romania on Saturday after the eastern European country was hit by heavy rainfall, authorities said.
Train traffic in several countries was disrupted on Sunday.
Vienna’s metro lines are suffering from disruptions and the Austrian railway company ÖBB has suspended train services on a line south of the Danube.
Cross-border train connections between Poland and the Czech Republic have also been suspended.
Dam bursts in Poland and the Czech Republic
A second dam has burst in southwestern Poland after heavy rainfall, authorities said on Sunday.
The dam in Stronie Śląski, Lower Silesia region, has burst and water from the Biała Lądecka River is now flowing unhindered into the Nysa Kłodzka River basin, a metrological network said.
The town of Stronie Śląski is located in the Kłodzko Valley, on the border of Poland with the Czech Republic.
Police have sent a rescue helicopter to the area to bring people stranded near the water to safety. Army soldiers are also on the scene.
On Saturday evening, a dam collapsed in the nearby mountain village of Międzygórze.
Since Friday morning, more rain has fallen in southwestern Poland than during the so-called Millennium Flood of 1997. The warning level has been exceeded at 47 measuring stations in the country.
In the southwest of the Czech Republic, the Husinec Dam in the foothills of the Bohemian Forest overflowed due to flooding. The highest flood warning level was reached in the city of Litomerice on the Elbe.
