Parts of southern and eastern Germany are also bracing for flooding, following flooding in Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland.
Floods in Austria, Steyr Photo: Team Fotokerschi / Klaus Mader/APA/dpa
Death toll from Romanian floods rises to five
The death toll from floods in Romania has risen to five. Another person has died in floods in the southeastern city of Galati, rescuers said Sunday. The deaths occurred in the Slobozia town of Conachi.
At least four people were killed in the same area on Saturday, where people were seen floating in water. Hundreds of people had to be rescued, many homes were flooded and thousands of homes were damaged as flooding continued across the country. President Klaus Iohannis spoke of the “dramatic consequences” of climate change.
“This is a disaster of enormous proportions,” the mayor of the town of Slobozia Conachi said Saturday. Emil Dragomir reported that about 700 homes were flooded.
A low-pressure area with heavy rain and gusty winds is currently moving across Central and Eastern Europe, causing damage and flooding in Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Romania. Levels are also rising in the German states of Saxony and Bavaria. (afp)
The situation in Germany is generally easing.
Parts of southern and eastern Germany are also bracing for flooding as torrential rains and flooding hit neighboring countries such as Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland. As of Sunday morning, the situation in Germany was still largely relaxed, with the first alert level only in some areas. Heavy rain was expected on Sunday and Monday, causing water levels to rise in some areas.
The German Meteorological Agency forecasts continued rain in parts of Saxony and Bavaria. According to the state flood center, a level 1 warning was issued for the Elbe River in Dresden, the capital of Saxony, on Sunday morning. The water level was over 4 metres. The water level is expected to continue to rise until the middle of next week.
Emergency services have temporarily completed the clean-up of the partially collapsed Carola Bridge. “It is complete,” the Dresden fire brigade reported Saturday evening. “The debris of the demolished bridge C in the Neustädter bridgehead area of the Carola Bridge has been completely removed.”
On Wednesday night, a section of the C bridge in Carolabrücke, where trams normally operate, collapsed into the Elbe River for about 100 metres. The exact cause is still unclear. The embankment area under the bridge has been cleared since Friday. However, the section of the bridge that fell into the Elbe River will remain in place for the time being. According to the Dresden Environment Agency, the debris will not have a significant impact on the flooding.
On the Elbe River, alert level 2 was issued in Schöna on Sunday, which signals the start of flooding, according to the state flood center. Warning level 2 was also in effect in the Lusatian Neisse near Görlitz. Here, the level has already started to fall again.
In Bavaria, water levels peaked on Sunday morning.
According to the flood news service, water levels in Bavaria were already at their highest point on Sunday morning. The Bavarian Environment Agency predicted that rain from Sunday afternoon would initially only bring a slight increase in the far east.
He said further developments were still uncertain. Current forecasts suggest that water levels in the affected areas will remain at similar levels until Tuesday. Rain is expected to ease considerably during Tuesday, and the situation in Bavaria is expected to ease on Wednesday.
In Passau, the Danube reached its highest level early Sunday morning. The city announced that some roads and parking lots near the river were closed. In Ruhstorf an der Rott, the water level reached a report level 3 on Sunday night, and the water level there is expected to rise slightly by noon Sunday.
In Munich, the warning level will drop back down to level 2 on Sunday. Some flooding was also expected in Brandenburg, but no alert level was applied. (afp)
The situation in Poland has reached its peak. One person has died.
Floods are worsening in parts of central Europe after days of continuous rain. One person drowned in the Klodzko district of southwestern Poland, authorities said on Sunday. Another 1,600 people had to be evacuated from the area after water levels in several rivers reached record levels. “The situation is very dramatic. It is most dramatic in the Klodzko district,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk said after a meeting with the crisis team on the ground.
“We urge residents to cooperate with emergency services when evacuation orders are issued.” Around 17,000 homes are without electricity and in some areas there is no mobile phone connection. The villages of Ladek Zdroj and Stronie Slaskie are virtually cut off from the outside world. Klodzko itself, a village of 25,000 people, is partially underwater.
The river there rose to 6.65 metres, and water levels from 2.40 metres are considered alarming. In the historic town of Gluckolaj in the nearby Opole district, the mayor ordered a mandatory evacuation on Sunday morning as the river there began to overflow its banks. At first there was no relief in sight. Additional regular cases were expected throughout the day and on Monday. (RTR)
Thousands of people are being evacuated in the Czech Republic.
Evacuations are increasing in the Czech Republic due to the threat of flooding. In Opava, on the Polish border, authorities announced on Saturday evening that thousands of people had to be evacuated to safety. Among other things, the city’s largest prefabricated housing complex was affected. The Opava river, a tributary of the Oder River of the same name, has already overflowed its banks in some areas. Fear of a once-in-a-century flood or even a flood worse than the 1997 disaster has forced hundreds of people to flee their homes elsewhere in the region.
According to police, several people are missing. Near Jesenik in the Jeseníky Mountains, a car fell into a raging stream. One of the occupants escaped to the bank, but there was no trace of the other three. In Jankovice, a 54-year-old man fell into a flooded stream while cleaning and did not resurface.
Around 80 water level stations in the Czech Republic have been issued with the highest flood warning level of ‘danger’. This means there is a risk of danger to life or limb or major damage to property. The northeastern region was particularly affected. A state of danger was declared in the Moravian-Silesian administrative region and in Olomouc (Olomouc). The army provided helicopters for relief efforts. In Prague, government members met for another crisis meeting. (dpa)
