PRAGUE (AP) — Another night of torrential rains pounding Central Europe forced mass evacuations as the death toll rose on Sunday. Several Central European nations have already been hit by severe flooding, including Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and , while Slovakia and Hungary might come next, as a result of a low pressure system from northern Italy dumping record rainfall in the region since Thursday. The floods have claimed five lives in Romania, one each in Austria and Poland.
In the Czech Republic, four people who were swept away by waters were missing, police said. It’s not over yet Most parts of the Czech Republic have been affected as authorities declared the highest flood warnings at around 100 places across the country. But the situation was worst in two northeastern regions that recorded the biggest rainfall in recent days, including the Jeseniky mountains near the Polish border.
In the city of Opava, up to 10,000 people out of a population of around 56,000 have been asked to leave their homes for higher ground. Rescuers used boats to transport people to safety in a neighborhood flooded by the raging Opava River. “There’s no reason to wait,” Mayor Tomáš Navrátil told Czech public radio.
He said that the situation was worse than during the last devastating floods in 1997, known as the “flood of the century.” “We have to focus on saving lives,” Prime Minister Petr Fiala told Czech public television on Sunday. His government was set to mee.
