Storm Boris sweeps across Central Europe; four dead in Romania

Storm Boris left four dead on Saturday September 14 in Romaniaas exceptional rains cause flooding in several countries in central and eastern Europe.

Romanian rescue services announced that they had found the bodies of four people during a search operation in the worst-hit region, Galati (southeast). “Due to heavy rainfall, flooding has occurred” and in total across the country, 19 localities and hundreds of people were rescued, they said.

Seven hundred houses were flooded in the village of Slobozia Conachi, in the Galati region, according to its mayor Emil Dragomir, interviewed by local television Digi24, a “catastrophe of extraordinary magnitude”. “We had floods eleven years ago, but it wasn’t this bad.”he added.

The army has deployed ten rescue boats to reach residents trapped in Pechea, a particularly affected village. Camps are being set up to accommodate those driven from their homes by rising waters.

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu is expected in the region and President Klaus Iohannis said in a statement: “expressed his condolences to the bereaved families”.

“We are once again faced with the effects of climate change, increasingly present on the European continent, with dramatic consequences”said the head of state. “We must continue to strengthen the capacity to anticipate extreme weather events and to alert the population”.

“Saturated soil”

In Czech Republic100,000 firefighters are available and nearly 2,900 incidents were recorded on Friday, mainly falling trees and floods. Nearly 50,000 homes were without electricity on Saturday, the electricity company CEZ said.

A hospital in the southeastern city of Brno was evacuated on Saturday morning. The northeastern region of Moravia has declared a state of emergency.

“The ground is now saturated, which means that all rainwater will remain on the surface”said Environment Minister Petr Hladik on X.

In 1997, floods hit Moravia, killing 50 people and causing damage estimated at billions of dollars. In 2002, floods hit the west of the country, killing 17 people and causing even greater damage than in 1997.

A state of emergency has also been declared in Bratislava, the capital of the Slovakia.

In Polandthe situation seems most precarious in the southwest, according to the government, and the next few hours will be the most difficult. The Polish-Czech border crossing at Golkowice was closed on Saturday following the overflowing of a river. The railway line between Prudnik and Nysa was closed to traffic, as were several roads in the region.

“Peak not yet reached” in Austria

In Austriawinds of up to 146 kilometres per hour were recorded in the south of the country and rainfall of up to 170 litres of water per square metre in the north.

In the capital Vienna, firefighters have intervened about 150 times in the past 24 hours to clear debris from streets or pump out water from cellars, according to local media. The wooded area of ​​Schönbrunn Park, Austria’s most visited site, has been closed as a safety measure, emergency services told APA.

While the “peak not yet reached” According to Chancellor Karl Nehammer, 4,000 homes in the Styrian region are without electricity. In the mountainous areas of the west, snow is hampering traffic on several roads and rescue workers are searching for a man who went missing after an avalanche.

Tyrol is covered in a layer of snow of up to one metre in places, an exceptional situation in mid-September, when temperatures above 30 degrees were recorded last week.