Countries in Eastern and Central Europe are suffering from the effects of Storm Boris, which has ravaged the area since Thursday with heavy rains, causing floods and destruction. So far, the storm has claimed the lives of four people in Romania. In Poland one person drowned, and the Czech Republic is conducting searches for four missing persons. Rivers are overflowing across the continent as a result of the unusual storm, which is attributed to the climate change crisis.
"We are again facing the effects of climate change, which are increasingly present on the European continent, with dramatic consequences," Romania's President Klaus Iohannis said. "We must continue to strengthen our capacity to anticipate extreme weather events."
In Romania, four bodies were discovered in the worst affected region, Galati in the southeast, where 5,000 homes were damaged. Hundreds of people were rescued across the country, and the authorities published footage of the rescues from flooded houses in a village on the banks of the Danube River.
"This is a catastrophe of epic proportions," said Emil Dragomir, mayor of Slobozia Conachi, a village in Galati, where he said 700 homes had been flooded. Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu is visiting the area and President Iohannis sent his condolences to the victims' families.
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Romania deployed firefighters to rescue residents
(Photo: AFP PHOTO / Romanian Inspectorate for Emergency Situations)
In the Czech Republic, about 100,000 firefighters were sent to help residents in the flood hotspots, where it was reported that trees had collapsed. About 50,000 homes were left without electricity during the weekend due to the harsh conditions and a hospital in Brno had to be evacuated. Slovakia declared a state of emergency in the capital Bratislava.
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Polish authorities fill bags with sand to prevent flooding
(Photo: Sergei GAPON / AFP)
Polish authorities warned the situation would be the most difficult in the southwest going into Saturday afternoon and evening. The country has shut the Golkowice border crossing with the Czech Republic after a river flooded its banks, closed several roads, and ceased the movement of trains on the line linking the towns of Prudnik and Nysa. So far, Poland has reported one death, as a result of the rising water level in the rivers. The man drowned in Klodzko in the southwest, where 1,600 residents were evacuated from their homes.
Austria reported winds of 146 kilometers per hour in the south. Firefighters were deployed in the capital to clear debris from roads and pump water from flooded basements. In the province of Styria, 4,000 homes remained without electricity. Chancellor Karl Nahmer warned that the worst is yet to come. On Sunday, Austria reported the death of a firefighter who assisted residents in the north-east of the country. In some mountainous areas in western Austria, traffic has been shut down due to heavy snow, and the authorities are looking for a man who was reported missing in an avalanche.