Central European Floods Cause Widespread Devastation; New Areas Under Evacuation, Reports Reuters

By Kuba Stezycki, Janis Laizans, and Radovan Stoklasa

WROCLAW, Poland/OSTRAVA, Czech Republic – Volunteers and emergency responders worked tirelessly on Tuesday to shore up riverbanks in Wroclaw, Poland’s historic city, as nearby regions urged residents to evacuate. Authorities across central Europe were assessing the damage from floods that have claimed at least 22 lives.

The torrential rains have caused widespread devastation from Romania to Poland. While water levels are decreasing in some areas, others anxiously awaited potential overflow from nearby rivers.

The regions along the Czech-Polish border have been particularly affected since the weekend, with raging rivers carrying debris through historic towns, leading to bridge collapses and property destruction.

The death toll includes seven individuals in Romania, seven in Poland, five in Austria, and three in the Czech Republic. Tens of thousands of households in both the Czech Republic and Poland remained without electricity or access to clean water.

In Wroclaw, Poland’s third-largest city, preparations were underway for anticipated high waters from the Oder and Bystrzyca rivers. Authorities in the Katy Wroclawskie district advised local residents to evacuate from several affected areas.

In a northern suburb, Michal Nakiewicz, a 44-year-old IT programmer, joined fellow volunteers to stack sandbags along the Bystrzyca. He described the scene: “I saw parents and children working together to fill sandbags. Even 5- or 6-year-olds were helping, so it was a real community effort. Every pair of hands helps.”

Wroclaw Zoo called for community assistance in packing sandbags to protect animal habitats, while staff began moving approximately 450,000 books from the city’s main church archive to safer upper floors in the Archdiocesan Archives building.

In Lewin Brzeski, about 60 kilometers south of Wroclaw, floodwaters had already inundated the area and continued to rise, forcing some residents to navigate waist-deep water while emergency services used boats to rescue others.

Marek Karas, a 63-year-old local resident, expressed frustration with the lack of preventive measures taken by authorities since a severe flood in 1997. “In 27 years, they haven’t done much in this section,” he lamented.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk highlighted the critical nature of the upcoming days, stating, “These are the most important ones ahead of us, you know, the most important two, three days.” He announced that the government had set aside 2 billion zlotys (approximately $520 million) for relief efforts.

‘COMBAT CONDITIONS’

Volunteers assisted rescue teams in fortifying the damaged embankment in Nysa, a city of more than 40,000 in southwestern Poland. Despite evacuations, some residents returned home to check on their properties, even as reports of looting began to surface. Nysa resident Sabina Jakubowska noted, “We are already hearing that looters have become active.”

In the Czech Republic, Governor Josef Belica reported that 15,000 individuals had been evacuated in the northeastern Moravia-Silesia region, one of the hardest hit. Helicopters were deployed to deliver aid to areas isolated by flooding.

Michal Marianek, director of a nursing home in Ostrava, shared the challenges faced by staff caring for residents without electricity for two nights. “In those combat conditions, we managed with provisional menus and so on,” he said.

Credit rating agency Morningstar DBRS estimated that losses from the flooding in central Europe could surpass 1 billion euros (approximately $1.1 billion). Governor Belica indicated that damages in his region alone could exceed tens of billions of crowns (over $1 billion), while the Czech Insurance Association estimated that insured property damage could cost around 17 billion crowns ($753 million).

In Hungary, towns such as Visegrad and Szentendre have implemented mobile dam systems to mitigate flooding from the Danube River. Authorities in Budapest also prepared for rising waters, nearing record levels, and closed Margaret Island, a popular recreational area.

In Slovakia, Environment Minister Tomas Taraba announced that the Danube had peaked at nearly 10 meters (32.81 feet) and that water levels would gradually decline. He estimated flood damage across the country at around 20 million euros.