Storm Boris has already killed 13 people and affected thousands of others in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria, countries hit by strong waterspouts and flooding.
Romania is the country with the most victimsafter the storm caused six deaths and forced dozens of people to flee their homes, affecting another 15,000 inhabitants, especially in Galati county, in the east of the country, after Floods described as “historic” by authorities.
River floods have already affected 76% of properties, according to Emil Dragomir, mayor of Slobozia Conachi, who describes a “total disaster” in the region, with several roads blocked and more than 750 firefighters mobilised in rescue operations.
There are three fatalities in Austria, all in the state of Lower Austria, the largest and most populous in the country: a firefighter who died while taking part in rescue work and two elderly people whose homes were flooded by water.
A dozen dams burst in this area, leaving 12 thousand homes without electricity and 23 cities without drinking waterwhile some 800 people had to be rescued by helicopter.
In the past four days, up to 280 litres per square metre have fallen in Austria, a record for September and four times more than the average rainfall for the month in previous years.
In Poland, three more people drowned in floods in the south of the country, especially in the town of Nysia, and an investigation is underway to determine whether the body of another woman, found in her apartment on Monday, could be linked to the disaster.
Villages were isolated, evacuated and communications cut off, affecting thousands of people, in the regions of Silesia, Opole and Lesser Poland, among others.
In the Czech Republic, one person has drowned in the Krasovka River in the northwest, while seven others are still missing, in a catastrophe that authorities are comparing to the 1997 incident in which 50 people died.
The persistent rains caused many rivers and streams to overflow and theAuthorities in dozens of towns have declared a state of maximum alertdue to flooding.
More than 12,000 people were evacuated from their homes and hundreds of thousands of homes were left without electricity.
In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced on Monday that he would postpone all foreign trips, which could affect his planned appearance at the European Parliament plenary session on Wednesday, due to extreme weather conditions and possible flooding in his country.
Hungarian meteorological services predict that river flows will rise to record levels, fuelled by both rainfall and the arrival of water masses from other Central European countries.
In the last hours of this Monday, the European Union (EU) expressed its solidarity with these “devastating” floods and announced “that it is ready to act.”
Heavy rains and flooding also caused damage in Africa and Asia: in Asia, The most affected country is Burma, where tropical depression Yagi left 113 dead, 64 missing and more than 320,000 displaced throughout the country, especially in the central region; In Africa, at least 281 prisoners are missing in Nigeria, where it was necessary Prisons evacuated due to floods affecting part of Maiduguri citycapital of Borno State.
Source: Observadora
