Historic Floods Devastate Central Europe, Thousands Evacuated

Severe flooding in central Europe has resulted in the loss of two lives and forced thousands to evacuate their homes.

Parts of the Czech Republic and Poland are experiencing their worst flooding in nearly three decades. The Czech Republic has seen a quarter of a million homes left without power, while thousands of residents have been forced to evacuate.

Austria has also been affected, with the government declaring the province surrounding the capital Vienna a disaster area. Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler announced the death of an Austrian firefighter who lost his life while carrying out a flood rescue mission.

In Poland, a bridge in the historic town of Glucholazy collapsed, a house was swept away, and a dam broke. Residents in the flooded area are preparing for the worst. The town of Klodzko was severely flooded after the water level of a local river exceeded a record set in 1997.

Poland reported one death in the Klodzko district, which Prime Minister Donald Tusk said was the worst-hit area in the country. Officials in Glucholazy have ordered an evacuation, but efforts to protect the town’s infrastructure did not prevent the bridge from collapsing.

Floodwaters swept through Lipova-lazne and the neighboring town of Jesenik, damaging several houses and carrying away debris. “The situation could be worse, because the water flows from the Jizera Mountains. When it rains, the water will reach here within the next five or six hours,” said resident Ferdinand Gampl, living in the Czech village of Visnova.

Czech police are currently searching for three people in a car that plunged into the Staric River. The area has had about 500 mm of rain since September 11.

“We don’t know what will happen next. The internet is down, the phones are down… We are waiting for help,” said resident Mirek Burianek, living in the town of Jesenik.

This flood is considered worse than the historic flood of 1997. “My house is under water and I don’t know if I can go back there,” said Pavel Bily, a resident of the village of Lipova-lazne.

Police and firefighters had to use helicopters to evacuate people trapped in affected districts. In total, more than 10,000 people were evacuated across the Czech Republic.

In Hungary’s capital Budapest, officials raised their forecast for the Danube River to rise in the second half of this week to more than 8.5 meters, close to the record 8.91 meters set in 2013.