Heavy rains from Storm Boris have caused widespread flooding across several countries, with the Czech Republic declaring the highest flood warnings in 100 places.
Sixteen people have died in severe flooding that has hit several countries in Central and Eastern Europe after heavy rainfall caused by Storm Boris forced several evacuations and caused widespread damage.
The floods claimed six lives in Romania and Poland each, three in Austria and one in the Czech Republic. Several more remain unaccounted for.
One person drowned on Monday in the Bruntál region of the Czech Republic, police chief Martin Vondrášek told local media.
Seven people are also missing in the country, four more than recorded on Sunday, as authorities have declared the highest flood warnings in 100 places across the country.
In the city of Opava, up to 10,000 people have been asked to evacuate. Two northeastern regions recorded the biggest rainfall in recent days with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala warning the public that the worst “is not behind us yet” in an interview on public television on Sunday.
Romania, Austria and Poland have also been hit by severe flooding that came as a result of a low pressure system from northern Italy dumping record rainfall in the region since Thursday.
In Romania, six people died in Galati county after huge amounts of rainfall damaged over 6,000 houses in the primarily rural area. The situation was largely brought under control over Sunday with the government organising rescue missions for those who had been made homeless as a result of the flooding, according to Romania’s Interior Ministry.
In Austria, two men aged 70 and 80 were found drowned in their homes after becoming trapped by rising flood water.
A firefighter died over the weekend in the state of Lower Austria as the entire state, which surrounds the capital of Vienna, was declared a disaster zone. On Sunday, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said the situation was “worsening” as over 10,000 relief forces evacuated 1,100 houses in the country’s northeastern part.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk declared a state of natural disaster emergency and said one person was presumed dead in the southwest of the country, with the situation in the town of Klodzko near the border with the Czech Republic “dramatic” as floodwaters burst through a dam causing a bridge to collapse.
Six people have died in Poland including a doctor who was returning home from a shift at the hospital in Nysa.
Some flooded areas were using the satellite-based Starlink service after seeing their energy supplies and communications cut off as a result of the flooding, Tusk said.
Further heavy rainfall is also expected to hit Slovakia and Hungary imminently.