Deadly Floods Sweep Across Central and Eastern Europe: Thousands of Homes Submerged, Rail Services Halted

Severe floods have hit Central and Eastern Europe, including Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania. Slovakia and Hungary may be the next to suffer due to a weather front from northern Italy, which has been dumping record rainfall in the region since Thursday. 

The death toll from floods in Europe has risen to eight due to torrential rains from Storm Boris, or ‘Annette’ as it is known in German, which has hit the central and eastern regions of the continent. So far, the floods have claimed six lives in Romania, one in Austria and one in Poland, and four people have gone missing in the Czech Republic after being swept away.

In Poland, a dam burst, and the town of Stronne Śląskie on the Polish-Czech border was literally submerged. Police are evacuating people by helicopter. Military personnel are also present at the scene. On Saturday evening, a dam burst in the neighbouring mountain village of Medzyhoře.

More than 250,000 homes in the Czech Republic were left without electricity. 10 thousand people were evacuated from the city of Opava. The Czech city of Krnov was almost completely flooded. Deputy Mayor Miroslav Binar told CTK that approximately 70% to 80% of the city is underwater. Czech President Petr Pavel called for donations to help the flood victims. In a post on X, he noted that the worst-hit areas, such as those around Jeseník and Friedlant, are also among the poorest regions of the country.

In Austria, dozens of districts have been declared disaster zones. Some settlements are no longer accessible by land. The water level in the Vienna River in the western part of Vienna rose from 50 centimetres to 2.26 metres overnight, emergency services said. Hiking and biking trails are flooded, and restaurant terraces along the river banks are underwater. Power was cut off in three districts of Vienna, and two metro lines were partially closed.

In Germany, floods are occurring in southeastern Bavaria after heavy rains. Germany's eastern state of Saxony is preparing for flooding as Germany's Central European neighbours struggle with rains and rising water levels.  State officials said the Elbe River in Schön, near the border with the Czech Republic, would top out at 7.50 metres (23 feet) on Tuesday afternoon. This will be enough to activate the highest level of alert in the region.

Ukraine has offered six European countries assistance in overcoming the consequences of the floods. 

‘On my instructions, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha offered the relevant countries in our part of Europe the assistance of rescuers from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine,’ the President of Ukraine said. 

Minister Sybiha said that Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic had offered assistance.

‘We express our condolences over the loss of life and destruction caused by the floods in Central Europe. Our thoughts are with all affected communities. We wish our neighbours to overcome this natural disaster as soon as possible,’ wrote Andriy Sybiha.