Death toll rises in flood-hit central Europe

The mayor of a Polish city has asked residents to evacuate, as wide­spread flooding batters swathes of central Europe.

Nysa mayor Kordian Kolbiarz asked people to head for higher ground, citing the risk of an em­bankment breaching and releasing a cascade of water into the town from a nearby lake.

On Monday, the death toll from the floods that hit central Europe over the weekend continued to rise, with more casualties recorded in the Czech Republic, Poland and Austria.

Budapest said it would close roads near the river Danube which runs through the city, citing the risk of flooding later this week.

“Please evacuate your belong­ings, yourselves, your loved ones. It is worth getting to the top floor of the building immediately, because the wave may be several metres high. This means that the whole town will be flooded,” Mr Kolbi­arz, the mayor of Nysa, wrote.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said one billion zloty (£197m) would be allocated for flood vic­tims. He added Poland would also apply for EU relief funds.

On Monday, the country de­clared a state of natural disaster, making the emergency response easier and freeing up EU funds.

The death toll from the ongoing flooding across central Europe reached 16 on Monday, with more deaths recorded in the Czech Re­public, Poland and Austria.

Although conditions have stabilised in some places, others are bracing themselves for more disruption and danger.

In Slovakia, the overflowing of the Danube River caused flood­ing in the Old Town area of the capital, Bratislava, with local media reporting that water levels exceed­ed 9m (30ft) and were expected to rise further.

Hungary is bracing itself for floods in the coming days. Warn­ings are in force along 500km (310 miles) of the Danube.

The river is rising by about a metre every 24 hours, with Buda­pest’s mayor offering residents a million sandbags to protect against floodwaters.

Some tram lines will not operate, while roads along the river will be closed in the Hungarian capital from Monday evening. Trains be­tween Budapest and Vienna have also been cancelled.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on X that he had postponed all his international obligations “due to the extreme weather con­ditions and the ongoing floods in Hungary”.

—BBC

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