Central Europe floods: Poland, Czech Republic evacuate amid 17 deaths

Torrential rains over the weekend severely impacted the Poland-Czech border, causing bridge collapses, evacuations, and major damage to vehicles and homes

Residents in several regions of Poland and the Czech Republic on Monday evacuated their homes as central Europe began recovering from the worst flooding in over 20 years, which has resulted in widespread damage and an increasing death toll.

The border areas between Poland and the Czech Republic were heavily impacted over the weekend by torrential rains that began last week. Rising water levels led to the collapse of bridges, forced evacuations, and significant damage to vehicles and homes.

Recent reports indicate that at least 17 fatalities have occurred due to the flooding stretching from Romania to Poland. On Monday afternoon, the mayor of Nysa, a town with over 40,000 residents in southern Poland, urged locals to evacuate immediately after a nearby floodbank was damaged.

Industrial, residential areas hit hard

In the northeastern Czech city of Ostrava, a breached barrier on the Odra River, where it meets the Opava River, resulted in flooding that affected the city’s industrial zone, including the BorsodChem chemical plant and the OKK Koksovny coking plant. Many residents were also being evacuated from nearby residential neighbourhoods.

Meanwhile, in the Czech town of Litovel, where around 70 per cent of the area was submerged by water up to one metre deep (3.2 feet) on Monday, residents reported a swift and terrifying rise in water levels over the weekend.

Government response

The Polish government has declared a state of natural disaster in the affected regions and allocated 1 billion zlotys (around $260 million) to assist those impacted by the flooding.
 

Prime Minister Donald Tusk reported that he was coordinating with leaders from other affected nations and planned to seek financial aid from the European Union.

In Jesenik, a Czech town on the border that was deluged on Sunday, cleanup efforts began once the waters receded, revealing damaged vehicles and debris scattered across the streets.

In eastern Romania, where many villages and towns were submerged over the weekend, Emil Dragomir, the mayor of Slobozia Conachi, said that some residents were left with only the clothes they were wearing.

(With agency inputs)