Rush to shore up flood defences amid deaths and evacuations

Emergency services are shoring up flood defences in Central and Eastern Europe after torrential rainfall swelled rivers and damaged thousands of homes.

One person has died from drowning in Poland, prime minister Donald Tusk confirmed on Sunday.

Storm Boris also proved deadly in Romania on Saturday, where four people were killed during floods in the south-eastern region of Galati.

In the Czech Republic, flooding has led to evacuations and 51,000 households in the country’s northern areas have been hit by power outages, Czech power company CEZ says. Flood barriers have gone up in the capital Prague.

“We are again facing the effects of climate change, which are increasingly present on the European continent, with dramatic consequences,” Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on Saturday.

Extreme precipitation is becoming more likely in Europe, as across much of the world, due to climate change.

A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, which can lead to heavier rainfall.

The mayor of Slobozia Conachi, a village in Romania’s Galati region, said 700 homes had been flooded.

“This is a catastrophe of epic proportions,” Emil Dragomir said.

In Glucholazy, in Poland’s southwestern Opole region, the mayor of the town said the local river had overflowed its banks and was now flooding the town. He appealed to residents to evacuate to higher ground on Sunday.

Glucholazy resident Zofia Owsiaka, said everyone in the town was “scared” and there seemed to be “no hope of the rain stopping”.

In Krakow, Poland’s second largest city, residents have been offered sandbags for flood protection.

Speaking from the town of Klodzko, one of the worst affected areas in Lower Silesia near the Czech border, Mr Tusk said 1600 people in the district had been evacuated.

He urged other residents to cooperate with the emergency services when asked to evacuate their homes.

In the area, 17,000 people are without power, he said. In some locations, the mobile telephone signal is not working and the internet is down, so he said he had taken the decision to use Starlink satellites.

He said the first Blackhawk helicopter had been sent to the region’s capital, Wroclaw, where thousands of residents had to use the staircases of high-rise blocks because lifts were shut as a flood safety precaution, local media reported.

In the Czech Republic, a dam burst in the country’s South Bohemia region on Saturday. Environment Minister Petr Hladik urged those in the worst-hit areas to prepare to leave their homes.

Hladik said the ground was saturated and rainwater was staying on the surface – increasing the risk of flash floods. Rain in the Czech Republic is expected until Tuesday, the minister said.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the country braced for “a tough weekend”. Authorities have put up protective walls of sandbags and metal barriers.

Football matches in the country’s top two leagues scheduled for this weekend were cancelled.