At least four people have died, thousands of homes have been damaged and hundreds have been evacuated after some of the heaviest rain in years hit central and eastern Europe.
A slow-moving low pressure system dubbed Storm Boris dumped a month’s worth of rain onto several of Europe’s historic capitals, including Vienna, Bratislava and Prague.
Four people have died in Romania, where the rainfall left hundreds stranded in flooded areas. Rescue services have been launched in hard-hit counties as authorities warn that they have recorded the heaviest rainfall in 100 years over the past 24 hours.
Rivers burst their banks in Poland and the Czech Republic. In Poland’s south, authorities ordered the evacuation of residences in the town of Glucholazy. The level of the river Biala Glicholaska rose by two meters, or 6.5 feet, overnight into Saturday.
After a difficult night and hundreds of incidents reported Poland’s Interior Minister, Tomasz Siemoniak told TVN24 they were “focusing on what the threats will be in the next few hours.”
Significant flooding is expected to continue in the Czech Republic, where authorities have ordered mandatory evacuations for some areas. Footage released by the Czech Republic Fire and Rescue Service showed flooded streets in the southern Benešově nad Černou municipality, where two women who didn’t follow evacuation orders had to be rescued by boat.
In Germany, southern and eastern states in particular are preparing for flooding. Flood warnings have been issued for rivers in the state of Saxony. In neighboring Austria, heavy rainfall has caused water levels to rise in several rivers, leading to rescue services being called out to parts of the country overnight.
Widespread and significant flooding is expected to continue through the weekend.
Red alerts, the highest level of warning, have been issued for portions of Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia. This level of alert is associated with “intense meteorological phenomena” and “major damage is likely,” according to Meteoalarm.