LAST UPDATE | 16 Sep
FLOODING SPARKED BY Storm Boris in central Europe has burst dams, knocked out power and killed at least 18 people, authorities said today.
High winds and unusually heavy rainfall have hit swathes of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia since Friday.
The rains have flooded streets and submerged entire neighbourhoods in some places, while shutting down public transport and electricity in others.
The storm has caused the deaths of seven people in Romania, four in Poland, four in Austria and three in the Czech Republic, according to the latest tallies. Several people remain missing.
“I have lived for some 25 years in this area, and I have never before seen such an intensity” of flooding, Vienna resident Thomas Hofbauer, 57, told AFP as he described how a usually calm stream in the Austrian capital had turned into a raging torrent.
Experts say climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions generated by human activities is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as torrential rains and floods.
‘Dramatic’
In Austria, the death toll climbed to four as the body of a man was found floating in the floods in Lower Austria, the worst-affected province in the Alpine nation, where more people were evacuated.
Since Thursday, parts of Austria have been hit by five times the average amount of rain they get for the entire month of September, according to forecaster Geosphere.
The flooding has broken a dozen dams, with muddy rivers raging, while thousands of households were without electricity and water in Lower Austria, authorities said.
One firefighter died over the weekend while responding to the flooding that authorities have described as “dramatic”.
Several communities also remain cut off and hundreds of people have been evacuated by helicopter from car roofs and other places.
“Because the rain was so extreme we have a hole in our ceiling at home now,” Lea, a 18-year-old Viennese student who declined to give her full name, told AFP.
The flooding has forced a river cruise ship with 142 people aboard – mostly Swiss tourists – to dock in Vienna, the Swiss-based company Thurgau Travel said.
Further north, in eastern Germany, mobile flood protection walls were set up in some areas to protect Dresden’s old city as the Elbe river level rose, with the peak expected mid-week.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germany was “deeply touched” by “dramatic” images and news about the flooding in neighbouring countries.
The Czech Republic and Poland have also reported deaths, evacuations and significant destruction in the worst-hit areas.
Czech police said on Monday three people have been killed as a result of the storm and eight remain missing.
In the eastern Czech city of Krnov, residents began to cart away debris.
“All pavements are destroyed, everything’s toppled here, everything’s broken around the shop… it’s a nightmare,” Eliska Cokreska, a 76-year-old pensioner, told AFP.
Polish police updated the disaster’s death toll to four – up from one previously — adding however that the exact causes of death still needed to be clarified.
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced one billion zloty (€234 million) in aid for those hit by the storm, which has forced thousands to be evacuated from their homes.
While the water in some cities, such as Klodzko, is starting to recede, revealing destruction and desolation, more flooding was feared in the north.
A video shot in Klodzko showed water covering a debris-strewn street with shop windows destroyed.
Water has also submerged the town of Glucholazy on the Polish-Czech border with many residents taking refuge in a school.
“The police came for the first time on Friday but we stayed at home because we were convinced that nothing would happen,” Joanna Polacasz, who was sheltering at a school, told AFP.
“This flood is the worst ever in Glucholazy. We are trying to talk to people, support them, offer them tea and, above all, show them that they are not alone,” said Paulina Grzesiowska-Nowak, a Red Cross rescuer.
The flooding death toll in Romania – where people climbed on to roofs to escape the water – has climbed to seven, according to rescuers.
“Compared to 2013 the amount of water was almost three times bigger. It was hard to handle that kind of fury of nature,” Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu told reporters on Monday.
Hungary has deployed more than 350 soldiers to reinforce flood barriers as the Danube and rivers along its basin are expected to surge.
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