Countries across Central and Eastern Europe are facing extreme flooding as Storm Boris wreaks havoc across the continent.
- A firefighter has died during a flood rescue in Austria and people have drowned in Poland and Romania, while several people are missing in the Czech Republic
- Tens of thousands of people are without power and many people have been evacuated from badly-hit areas to higher ground
- The Austrian province surrounding Vienna has been declared a disaster area, with its leaders speaking of “an unprecedented extreme situation”
- ‘No-one knows when the water will recede – the next wave is still to come’published at 14:31 British Summer Time14:31 BST
- People in flood-hit areas of the southern Czech Republic are bracing themselves for more disruption as further rain is forecast.
- Marek Joch lives in a small village called Lipov and tells the BBC these are the worst floods since 1997.
- “Lipov is currently closed from all sides, it is impossible to get here. Unfortunately, the next wave is still to come.
- “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, how it will all look here and what the consequences will be.
- “The forecast says it should rain for at least two more days. We still have to survive until Tuesday, this is not the end.”
- The river in Głuchołazy has broken its banks, sweeping away a temporary bridge and flooding the town centre.
- In a dramatic appeal, the mayor has urged residents to relocate to higher ground, saying “we’re drowning”.
- Poland and the Czech Republic are facing some of their worst flooding since 1997 when more than 100 people were killed in both countries. In Poland, the amount of rainfall has exceeded that in 1997, Prime Minister Tusk said.
- Those floods left close to 40% of the regional capital, Wrocław, underwater. Tusk said that infrastructure built since then, including anti-flood dams and overflow reservoirs, should prevent a repeat of that disaster.
- The governor of the province of Lower Austria, Johanna Mikl-Leitner, says a firefighter has died while pumping out a flooded cellar.
- She said the whole of the province has been declared a catastrophe zone.
- Austrian Railways, OEBB, say no trains are running between Vienna and Linz. The main A1 western motorway has flooded near the town of St Pölten and closed at the entrance to Vienna.
- Parts of the Vienna underground have been closed, as the Wienfluss river levels rise.
- In a post on X, Austria‘s Chancellor Karl Nehammer said: “The storm situation has worsened in the last few hours…The storm situation in the federal states is very serious.
- At a news briefing following emergency talks, Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Interior Minister Vit Rakusan called on people to heed calls to evacuate when told to do so by their local mayors – otherwise, their lives could be in danger.
- Mr Rakusan said all efforts now would be concentrating on preventing any loss of life.
- Several thousand people, mostly in towns across the eastern half of the country, have been evacuated. Around 200,000 were left without power on Sunday morning.
- No deaths have yet been confirmed, but four people remain missing. Three people were last seen in a car which disappeared into a river in North Moravia, and one man was swept into a flooded stream in South Moravia.
- The authorities have repeated pleas for people to take the emergency seriously.
- Several dozen police and firefighters in Prague were called to rescue a man who went swimming in the flooded Vltava on Sunday morning. He was carried two kilometres downstream before ending up in reeds.
- On Saturday, police in North Moravia were called after three men were spotted on paddleboards on the flooded River Odra. The three – described as professional paddleboard instructors – were ordered out of the river.
