A massive wave of flooding in central Europe threatened new areas after killing 24 people, sparking concern among residents and officials and prompting European Union President Ursula von der Leyen to visit the region on Thursday.
Heavy rains in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy also caused flooding and the evacuation of around 1,000 people. In Central Europe, receding waters revealed the extent of the damage caused by heavy rains that began a week ago.
Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said one more person died Thursday in the country’s far northeast, raising the death toll there to five. Seven people have also died in Poland and Romania, and five in Austria, bringing the total number of deaths in the affected countries to 24.
Authorities have mobilized soldiers to help. In the northeast of the Czech Republic, soldiers joined firefighters and other emergency crews to assist with cleanup and recovery efforts. Army helicopters distributed humanitarian aid while soldiers built temporary bridges to replace those that had been flooded.
Some 400 people remained in evacuation centres in the central Ostrava region and were unable to return home. Authorities said that in the southwest, near the border with Austria, the Luznica river has reached its peak, but the evacuation of 1,000 people from the town of Veseli nad Luznici is not necessary at this time.
Flooding continues in Hungary, as authorities have closed roads and railway stations. Ferries along the Danube River have been suspended. In the capital Budapest, water has inundated the city’s lower stations, threatening to reach tram and metro lines. Some transport services have been suspended.
Further upstream, in an area known as the Danube Bend, homes and restaurants along the river banks were flooded as officials and volunteers continued to place sandbags to shore up riverbeds.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told a news conference on Thursday morning that some 6,000 people had been mobilized, including employees of Hungary’s military and water authorities. Prisoners from prisons were also mobilized to help fill the sandbags, Orbán said.
The Danube River rose to 25.3 feet on Thursday morning, approaching the record of 29.2 feet set during the worst flooding of 2013.
In southwestern Poland, high tide reached the city of Wroclaw and the crest was expected to last for hours or even days, putting pressure on the coast.
Water levels on the Oder River upstream of Wroclaw were at 21 feet, about 6.5 feet above the warning level but well below the catastrophic flood level of 1997.
General Michal Kamieniecki, who made an emotional appeal to Prime Minister Donald Tusk for help in two hard-hit towns, Strony Slaskie and Ladek-Zdroj, said water and electricity had been restored by a young woman named only Katarzyna.
As concerns grew, Tusk invited von der Leyen to Wrocław to see the situation first-hand. The leaders of the governments of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria will also take part in the trip on Thursday.
In Italy, around 1,000 residents were evacuated in Emilia-Romagna after heavy rains and flash flooding overnight, officials said Thursday.
Three provinces in the region (Ravenna, Bologna and Forli-Cesena) were hit by flooding when the local mayor asked people to stay on upper floors or leave their homes. These areas were already hit by devastating floods in May 2023, when more than 20 rivers burst their banks, killing 17 people and causing billions of euros in damage.
Italian Deputy Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Galeazzo Bignami told a news conference on Thursday that two people were missing in Bagnocavallo, in the Ravenna region.
At least 800 residents of Ravenna and around 200 in Bologna province spent the night in shelters set up in schools and sports centres as local rivers burst their banks.
Train services were suspended and schools closed, while residents were advised to avoid travel and work from home as much as possible.
Scislowska writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Justin Spike in Budapest, Hungary; Karel Janicek in Prague; and Giada Zampano in Rome contributed to this report.
