Storms in Europe

Dam in Poland overflows, fatalities in Romania

In Romania, many people had to escape from their flooded homes - for some elderly people, the floods became a death trap.

(Bild: APA/AFP)

After heavy rainfall, a dam in south-western Poland has overflowed. "The water inflow is huge," explained the Lower Silesian municipality of Bystryca Klodzka on X. In the Czech Republic, a town was cut off from the outside world by the floods and thousands had to be evacuated. In Romania, several people have died as a result of the storms.

In several places in Poland, more rain has already fallen than during the so-called millennium flood in 1997, explained Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The situation is critical due to the overflowing dam in Miedzygorze on the border with the Czech Republic. "Although water has been drained, it has reached its maximum level!" said the municipality of Bystryca Klodzka on X. The inhabitants of the lower-lying villages were evacuated, the Regional Water Management Authority in Wroclaw announced.

Pictures of the floods in Poland:

Especially elderly died in floods in Romania
There have already been reports of fatalities in Romania: At least four people died in the floods in Galati County in the eastern region of Moldova. The victims were mainly elderly people, including two women aged 96 and 86. A further 90 people were evacuated, wrote the news portal digi24.ro.

Pictures of the floods in Romania:

The water masses reached a height of up to 1.7 meters in the affected villages, the reports continued. People had climbed onto the roofs of houses to avoid being swept away by the floods. 200 firefighters were deployed and an army helicopter had set course for the disaster area. Rescue workers assume that many elderly people who are restricted in their freedom of movement are still trapped in their homes in the flooded areas.

Thousands of city dwellers evacuated in the Czech Republic
The storms with high water and flooding continue to keep the emergency services in the Czech Republic on their toes. The border area with Poland in the east of the country is particularly affected. On Sunday night, the mayor of Cesky Tesin ordered the evacuation of several thousand residents from the city center. The Olsa, a tributary of the Oder, was threatening to burst its banks.

Pictures from the Czech Republic:

(Bild: APA/AFP )

(Bild: APA/AFP )

Thousands of people had already had to leave their homes in Opava on the river of the same name due to the acute risk of flooding. The city's largest prefabricated housing estate was among those affected. People also had to be evacuated to safety in Krnov and other towns. In the Jeseníky Mountains, the 2,000-inhabitant community of Ceska Ves was cut off from the outside world by the masses of water from the Bela. According to forecasts, the rainfall was not expected to let up until Monday at the earliest.

In the south-west of the Czech Republic, the Husinec dam in the foothills of the Bohemian Forest overflowed due to the floods. However, the communities below along the Blanice were warned in good time. The situation on the Vltava and Elbe was much more relaxed than initially feared. The second flood alert level ("standby") was reached at the gauge in Usti nad Labem (Aussig on the Elbe). At the Prague-Vyton gauge, the level of the Vltava was around 2.17 meters above zero on Sunday morning