Central Europe experiencing worst floods in at least 2 decades

WARSAW - Central Europe is experiencing the worst floods in at least two decades, with a trail of destruction from Romania to Poland and and the deaths of at least 23 people so far.

Below are the main facts on the current situation in affected countries, estimated costs of damages and governments' help.

Poland

* Four provinces in southwestern Poland are covered by the highest level of hydrological warnings against level 3 floods.

* The Polish defence ministry said more than 14,000 soldiers had been deployed to flood-hit regions.

* Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the damage caused by the floods will reach billions of zlotys. Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski told a crisis meeting that 2 billion zlotys (S$521 million) in funds had been secured for immediate help.

* Minister for Funds and Regional Development Katarzyna Pelczynska-Nalecz said 1.5 billion zlotys from Poland's European Union funds would be redirected to reconstruction, with another 3.5 billion zlotys potentially allocated to building floodwalls, reservoirs and dams.

Hungary

* The peak levels of the flood have entered Hungary and it is expected to last until Thursday (Sept 19). The flood is expected to fall short of the record levels seen in 2013.

* The emergency reservoir near Mosonmagyarovar has been opened, which is expected to lower the water level on the Leitha river by 20cm.

* The defence effort is underway on 544 km of rivers in Hungary in total, with the highest degree of flood alert in place on 225km.

* Nearly 4,400 people are involved in the defence effort, including 1,288 water management personnel, 1,677 soldiers, 312 police officers and 117 prisoners.

* The River Danube is expected to peak in Budapest late on Saturday with 846cm, below its 2013 record of 891cm.

The Czech Republic

* Rising rivers affected nearly all parts of the Czech Republic, except for some western areas.

* The hardest-hit regions were in the northeast, along the Polish border, in an area spanning more than 100km. Parts of the country's third-largest city Ostrava, with a population of around 295,000, were hit by flooding.

* Flooding affected 10 square km and 6,500 buildings in Opava, a city of 56,000 just west of Ostrava.

* Czech Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura said damage could be in the ballpark of around 100 billion Czech crowns (S$4.44 billion). That is equal to about 1.25 per cent of gross domestic product.

* The Czech Insurance Association's (CAP) first estimate of flood damage for insured property reached 17 billion crowns.

Austria

* The hardest-hit part of Austria has been the province of Lower Austria, which surrounds Vienna and borders the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

* Chancellor Karl Nehammer said the federal disaster fund will increase to 1 billion euros (S$1.11 billion) and companies severely affected by flooding will be able to postpone tax payments.

Romania

* Rainfall in Romania and subsequent flash floods affected dozens of villages and small towns across eight counties, with the eastern counties of Galati and Vaslui the worst hit.

* While the government is still assessing the total cost of the damages, initial estimates show roughly 6,500 homes have been damaged, impacting more than 15,000 people.

* The coalition government has allocated 100 million lei (S$22.37 million) in immediate aid to families affected by floods. The county council of Galati has allocated just under 1 million lei to cover initial clean up costs, including the removal of dead animals.

* Romania has a mandatory home insurance scheme for natural disasters including earthquakes, floods and landslides, but the insurance pool overseeing the scheme says average coverage rates in rural areas of Galati and Vaslui are at seven per cent and eight per cent, respectively, sharply below the national average of 23 per cent.

Slovakia

* Slovakia's Environment Minister Tomas Taraba said the Danube had peaked at nearly 10m and water levels would now slowly fall. He said damage caused by floods throughout the country was estimated at 20 million euros.

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