European countries are preparing for widespread flooding, with Romania already seeing its first victims
Kyiv • UNN
At least five people have died in Romania due to flooding. Poland, Czech Republic, Austria and Germany are preparing for heavy rain and possible flooding. Up to 40 cm of rain is expected in some areas.
Large-scale flooding caused by heavy rains has begun in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe. In Romania as a result of natural disaster killed several people, floods have already begun in Poland, they are also expected in the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany. About it UNN writes with reference to the BBC.
Details
Five people have become victims of flooding in Romania, where heavy rains started earlier. Their bodies were found during a search and rescue operation in flooded southeastern parts of the country.
According to the Mediafax agency, among the dead were mostly elderly people, including two women aged 86 and 96. In the affected villages, the water could rise up to 1.7 meters, and local residents were forced to climb on the roofs of houses to avoid being swept away by the current. The agency quoted rescuers as saying that many elderly people, who have limited mobility, may still remain in their homes in the flood zone.
Floods are expected to move to the West. In some areas, such as the highlands on the Polish-Czech border, up to 40 centimeters of rain will fall. Heavy rains will be accompanied by gale force winds - in Czech Moravia, wind speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour are expected, according to meteorologists.
Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Semoniak said that the small towns of Morów and Glucholazy, located near the border with the Czech Republic, were in danger. In Glucholazy, the water level in the river exceeded safe levels by two meters, and some residents were evacuated. The Polish Meteorological Service reported the threat of localized flooding. Territorial defense troops were put on high alert.
The Institute of Meteorology and Water Management of Poland announced the highest level warning due to heavy rains and expanded the zone of possible flooding - now it includes the mouth of the Oder River - at the place where it flows into the Baltic Sea.
In Prague on Friday, firefighters closed the flood gates on the Čertovka Canal. The gates were erected after devastating floods in 1997 and 2002 to protect the city from water. Prague Zoo, which was badly damaged in the 2002 and 2013 floods, said it was ready to evacuate animals if necessary. It is closed to visitors this weekend.
The main focus of Czech authorities is on Northern Moravia, where the heaviest rainfall and gale force winds are forecast. The 1997 floods in Moravia killed 50 people.
Heavy precipitation is also expected in Bavaria, while the rest of Germany is not threatened by flooding. In Austria, between 10 and 20 cm of rain is expected to fall in many parts of the country in the coming days. More than 20 cm may fall in three states - Lower and Upper Austria and Styria.
According to forecasters, there could be so much rainfall in a few days that it would exceed rainfall totals for September in previous years.
