Floods claim more lives as torrential rain pounds central Europe

LIPOVA-LAZNE/VISNOVA, Czech Republic — One person drowned in southwestern Poland, a rescue worker was killed in Austria and thousands were evacuated in the Czech Republic after heavy rain continued to batter central Europe on Sunday (Sept 15), causing flooding in several parts of the region.

A low-pressure system named Boris has triggered days of downpours and rivers have burst their banks from Poland to Romania, where the death toll rose to five on Sunday. More rain and strong winds are forecast until at least Monday.

Some parts of the Czech Republic and Poland faced the worst flooding in almost three decades, as towns evacuated thousands of residents. A quarter of a million Czech homes were without power.

The Austrian firefighter was killed as he tackled flooding in Lower Austria, Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler said, as authorities declared the province which surrounds the capital, Vienna, a disaster area.

A bridge collapsed in the historic Polish town of Glucholazy near the Czech border. Local media said a house was swept away and a bridge collapsed in the mountain town of Stronie Slaskie, where a dam burst, according to the Polish weather institute.

Residents in some flooded areas were bracing for conditions to deteriorate.

"It will probably get worse, because they reported (the water) is coming from the Jizera Mountains. When it rains there, it will arrive here in five or six hours," said Ferdinand Gampl, an 84-year-old resident of the Czech village of Visnova, 138 km north of the capital, Prague.

Czech police said they were looking for three people who were in a car that plunged into the river Staric on Saturday near Lipova-lazne, a village about 235 km east of Prague. Rainfall in the area has reached about 500 mm (19.7 inches) since Wednesday.

Reuters footage showed flood waters gushing through Lipova-lazne and neighbouring Jesenik, damaging some houses and carrying debris.

"We don't know what will be next," said Mirek Burianek, a resident of Jesenik. "The internet network isn't working, telephones don't work... We are waiting for who will show up (to help)."

Lipova-lazne resident Pavel Bily told Reuters the floods were even worse than those seen in 1997. "My house is under water, and I don't know if I will even return to it," he said.

Police and fire services used a helicopter to evacuate people stranded in the district. Overall, more than 10,000 people had been evacuated in the country, the head of the fire service told Czech television.

Worse than before

Just across the border in Poland, one person died in Klodzko county, which Prime Minister Donald Tusk said was the worst-hit area of the country after meeting officials in the main town.

Klodzko town was partly under water as the local river surpassed record levels recorded in 1997, when floods killed 56 people in Poland.

Officials in nearby Glucholazy ordered evacuations early on Sunday although efforts to protect the town's infrastructure failed to prevent the bridge collapse.

In the Hungarian capital, Budapest, officials raised forecasts for the river Danube to rise in the second half of this week to more than 8.5 metres, nearing a record of 8.91 metres in 2013.

"According to forecasts, one of the biggest floods of the past years is approaching Budapest but we are prepared to tackle it," mayor Gergely Karacsony said.

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