Flooding across Central Europe has resulted in the deaths of at least 10 people and led to the evacuation of tens of thousands, with towns and industrial sites in countries from Poland to Romania affected by the rising waters after several days of heavy rainfall.
Storm Boris caused rivers to swell across central and eastern Europe on Sept. 15 and 16 since the rains began on Sept. 13, according to officials.
As a result, factories and stores have been forced to suspend operations, and emergency measures have been implemented in several regions.
In Litovel, the Morava River overflowed, submerging about 70 percent of the town and forcing the closure of schools and health facilities, the mayor said in a video on Facebook.
In Prague, flood barriers were put in place.
In Ostrava, an industrial city of 290,000 people in the northeast Czech Republic, the BorsodChem chemical plant, which is partially owned by China’s Wanhua Chemical Group, has been shut down, according to a spokesperson for the company.
OKK Koksovny, one of the largest producers of foundry coke in Europe, stopped chemical production but was continuing to keep coking batteries at minimum levels, spokesman Jindrich Vanek said.
“There is water that has started rising and there must be a breach of the flood barriers,” he said. “We are without electricity and we are heating our batteries with coking gas, keeping them at technological minimum.”
Veolia Energie’s Trebovice electricity and heating plant site, which is nine miles from the border with Poland, cut hot water and heating supplies to large parts of Ostrava following flood damage, the company said in a statement.
Poland to Announce Disaster
Poland’s government is due to meet on Monday morning to call a state of disaster.Polish Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Czeslaw Mroczek told Polish Radio on Sept. 16 that thousands of firefighters, police officers, and soldiers had fought the floods in the past 24 hours. He said that the government was still working to determine the scale of the damage.
“The government, as announced, will make a decision to introduce a state of natural disaster ... We are consulting with local governors,” Mroczek said.
On Sept. 15, Prime Minister Donald Tusk urged residents to listen to evacuation warnings.
“Unfortunately, in many places, we are seeing repeated instances where some residents are ignoring the level of danger and refusing to evacuate,” he said in a statement.
“On behalf of all services, I remind everyone to immediately comply with this request ... Remember, if you refuse to evacuate, you are creating a serious danger and problem not only for yourselves but also for the emergency services, as it hinders their overall operations.”
In Romania, flooding affected eight counties, the country’s emergency unit said. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu visited Galati County, where four people were found dead.
About 5,000 homes were damaged and 25,000 were without power.
‘Devastating Floods’
Slovakia’s capital Bratislava and Hungarian capital Budapest were both preparing as the River Danube rose. Southern Germany and parts of Austria have all been hit by heavy rainfall.“My thoughts are with the victims and their families,” she said. “Thank you to all those helping for their tireless work. The EU stands ready to support.”
