Heavy rains cause mass evacuations as rivers swell in central Europe during record floods

Another night of heavy rain across central Europe has prompted widespread evacuations in the worst-hit areas of the Czech Republic, where flooding reached extreme levels on Sunday.

Meteorologists warned that the situation could get worse as water levels rose in most rivers, flooding swept across the country, and more heavy rains could return overnight.

Authorities have issued the highest flood warnings in about 90 places across the country and in two areas in the northeast that have recorded the highest rainfall in recent days, including the Jesienicke mountains near the Polish border.

In the city of Opava, up to 10,000 people out of a population of about 56,000 were told to leave their homes and take to higher ground. Rescuers used boats to move people to safety in a neighborhood flooded by the surging Opava River.

“There is no reason to wait,” Mayor Tomas Navratil told Czech Public Radio, adding that the situation was worse than during the last devastating floods in 1997, known as the “flood of the century.”

“We have to focus on saving lives,” Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala told public television on Sunday. His government is likely to meet on Monday to assess the damage.

The Prime Minister warned that the worst “is not yet over”.

At least 4 missing, villages isolated

Thousands more have been evacuated in the towns of Krnow, which is almost completely submerged, and Ceske Tesin. The Oder River, which flows into Poland, has reached extreme levels in the city of Ostrava and in Bohumin, prompting mass evacuations.

Ostrava, the capital of the region, is the third-largest city in the Czech Republic. The city's mayor, Jan Donal, said the city was facing major traffic disruptions in the coming days. There were almost no trains running in the area.

Raging waters flooded towns and villages in the Jeseniki Mountains, including the local town centre Jeseniki, cutting them off from the world, turning roads into rivers. The military sent a helicopter to help with evacuations.

Many houses in her town and in other nearby towns were destroyed by flooding, Jeseník Mayor Zdenka Plastánova told Czech public television. Several bridges and roads were also badly damaged.

Four people who were swept away by the water are missing, police said.

About 260,000 homes were without power across the country on Sunday, while traffic was halted on many roads, including the main D1 highway.

Firefighter dies after Lower Austria declared disaster area

A firefighter died after “slipping down the stairs” while pumping water from a flooded cellar in the town of Tulln, Lower Austria fire chief Dietmar Fahrafellner told reporters on Sunday.

Authorities have declared the entire state of Lower Austria a disaster area, with emergency teams evacuating 1,100 homes there so far.

“We are experiencing difficult and dramatic hours in Lower Austria. For many people in Lower Austria, these are probably the most difficult hours of their lives,” said Johanna Mikl-Leitner, Governor of Lower Austria.

In Vienna, the Vienna River overflowed, flooding homes and forcing residents to evacuate homes near the river.

Romania records another victim due to floods

Romanian authorities said Sunday that another person had died in the hard-hit eastern county of Galati after four people were reported killed there the day before, following unprecedented rainfall.

Dramatic floods in Poland

In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Sunday that there was a possibility that one person had died in flooding in the southwest of the country.

Tusk said the situation was “tragic” around the town of Klodzko, home to about 25,000 people and located in a valley in the Sudetes Mountains near the border with the Czech Republic.

In the town of Glócholaszy, rising waters overflowed a river bank, flooding streets and homes. “We are drowning,” said Mayor Pawel Szymkowicz, urging residents to evacuate to higher ground.

Tusk said power and communications supplies had been cut off in some flooded areas, and regions may resort to using the satellite-based Starlink service.

Several countries in central Europe have been hit by severe flooding, including Romania, Austria, Germany, Slovakia and Hungary, as a result of a low pressure system coming from northern Italy that brought heavy rain to the region.

The weather change comes after a hot start to September in the region. Scientists have documented the hottest summer on Earth, breaking a record set just a year ago.

Warming of the atmosphere, caused by human-induced climate change, can lead to more intense rainfall.