News Mania Desk/ Piyal Chatterjee / 16th September 2024
Some of the heaviest rain in years caused flooding and extensive disruption throughout central and eastern Europe, and at least eight people have died as a result.
Over the course of a few days, a slow-moving low pressure system known as Storm Boris poured months’ worth of rain over several of Europe’s historic capitals, including Vienna, Bratislava, and Prague.
Red alerts, the highest level of warning, were remained in force for parts of Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Slovakia on Monday as the region continued to be battered by intense rains.
Authorities in Poland issued an evacuation order to the people of Moszczanka and Laka Prudnicka on Sunday after a dam rupture that posed a risk of collapse, resulting in the death of one person in the county of Klodzko. A fireman in Austria perished in the line of duty on the same day, the fire department said CNN.
Following four verified deaths from floods on Saturday, two more deaths from the same cause were reported in Romania on Sunday.In order to save hundreds of individuals who were left stranded there by the intense rain, rescuers have been working very hard. Antena 3 was informed by Romania’s Interior Minister Cătălin Predoiu that “the effects were most critical in seven localities.” Predoiu said that while rescue teams were able to free 95 individuals who were stuck in their dwellings, the deceased’s bodies were discovered in their yards or residences.
Authorities warn that during the previous 24 hours, they have recorded the highest rainfall in 100 years. Rescue services have been dispatched in hard-hit districts. As Storm Boris progressively moves southward toward the Mediterranean, some of the most hit areas could see a gradual decrease in rainfall; nevertheless, flooding in already flooded areas may remain.
In the Czech Republic and Poland, rivers have overflowed. 1,600 inhabitants in the Klodzko county of southwest Poland were evacuated after the local rivers overflowed their banks and reached record high water levels. The 25,000-person town of Klodzko was left half under water on Sunday.
Authorities in the Czech Republic have been battling extremely heavy rains all around the nation. Reporters were forewarned by Czech President Petr Pavel on Sunday that the floods was still “far from over” and that the poorest areas of the nation will probably sustain the “greatest damage” in the next few days.Particularly the southern and eastern regions of Germany are getting ready for flooding. The state of Saxony has issued flood warnings for its waterways.
Heavy rains in Austria, a neighbor, have raised the flood levels in several rivers, prompting rescue operations throughout the nation. As the heavy rains persisted into Sunday, many towns in Lower Austria have declared a state of emergency.
Leaders of the European Union have also pledged to support nations affected by the flooding.
Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, posted on social media to offer her “heartfelt solidarity” and sympathies to the “victims and their families” of the flooding as well as to the EU nations affected.
