Catastrophe' as deadly floods hit Central and Eastern Europe. BBC Adam Easton
Correspondent Reporting from Poland Malu Cursino and Ruth Comerford 9-15-2024 A firefighter died during a flood rescue in Austria and one person drowned in Poland, as torrential rain caused by Storm Boris continued to wreak havoc across Central and Eastern Europe. In Romania, five people have died, while several remain unaccounted for in the Czech Republic. The Austrian province surrounding Vienna has been declared a disaster area, with its leaders speaking of "an unprecedented extreme situation". Poland's prime minister Donald Tusk declared a state of natural disaster. Some of the worst rainfall has been in the Czech Republic, where some areas have seen around three months’ rainfall in just three days. Evacuations are under way and four people remain missing - three in a car which disappeared into a river in North Moravia, and one man who was swept into a flooded stream in South Moravia. Marek Joch, a resident of Lipov in the southeast, said the town was "closed from all sides" and the "next wave" of the flood is still to come. "Now everyone is trying to clean up as quickly as possible to prevent further large spills from the river. Unfortunately, no one knows when the water will recede. "We still have to survive until Tuesday, this is not the end.” Jesenik, a town located in the Jeseniky mountains, is described as completely cut off, with roads and rail lines underwater. Around 17,000 people in the Kłodzko area alone are without power, and internet and mobile telephone connections are down. The mayor of Slobozia Conachi, a village in Romania's south-eastern Galati region, said 700 homes had been flooded. "This is a catastrophe of epic proportions," Emil Dragomir said.
Why has Storm Boris been so devastating?....Storm Boris has already brought extreme amounts of rain across central and eastern Europe, with more downpours forecast until at least the end of Monday.The storm has been so devastating for two reasons.....read on- there's much more https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0jwp3ppp6xo