European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday pledged billions of euros to rebuild central European countries that suffered massive damage to infrastructure and homes in floods that killed 24 people in the region.
Ms Von der Leyen made a flying visit to the flood-affected region of south-eastern Poland and met with the heads of government of the affected countries, namely Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
She assured that funds would be quickly available for repairs, from the EU Solidarity Fund, as well as €10 billion from the Cohesion Fund for the most urgent repairs. She specified that no contributions from individual EU countries would be needed for the money to be released and stressed that in this time of crisis, action must be taken quickly.
Von der Leyen made the pledge as massive flooding across central Europe threatens new areas after killing 24 people, raising concerns among residents and officials.
Heavy rains also caused flooding and the evacuation of around 1,000 people in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. In central Europe, receding waters revealed the extent of the damage caused by unusually heavy rains that began a week ago.
Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said one more person had been killed in the hard-hit northeast of the country on Thursday, bringing the death toll in his country to five. There were also seven deaths in Poland and Romania, and five in Austria. The total death toll in the affected countries now stands at 24.
Authorities deployed troops to help. In the northeastern Czech Republic, soldiers joined firefighters and other emergency teams to help with cleanup and recovery efforts. Army helicopters delivered humanitarian aid while soldiers built temporary bridges to replace people swept away by floodwaters.
Some 400 people remain in evacuation centres in the regional capital of Ostrava, unable to return home. In the southwest, near the border with Austria, the water level of the Luznice River has reached an extreme level, but the evacuation of around 1,000 people in the town of Veseli nad Luznici was not necessary at this time, authorities said.
In Hungary, floodwaters continued to rise on Thursday and authorities closed roads and railway stations. Ferries on the Danube stopped. In the capital, Budapest, water spread across the city’s lower embankments and threatened to reach tram and metro lines. Some transport services were suspended.
Further upstream, in an area known as the “Danube Bend,” homes and restaurants near the river banks were flooded as authorities and volunteers continued to place sandbags to reinforce the dikes.
Nearly 6,000 professionals, including members of the Hungarian water authorities and the military, have been mobilized, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at a press conference on Thursday morning. Prison inmates have also been mobilized to help fill the sandbags, Orbán added.
The Danube level rose to 771 centimetres on Thursday morning, approaching the record of 891 centimetres set during the major floods of 2013.
In southwestern Poland, high waters have reached the city of Wroclaw and an elongated wave is expected to take several hours or even days to pass, putting pressure on the dikes.
The level of the Oder just before Wroclaw was 6.4 metres, about two metres above the alarm levels, but still significantly lower than during the catastrophic floods of 1997.
In the two worst-hit towns, Stronie Slaskie and Ladek-Zdroj, running water and electricity have been restored, said General Michal Kamieniecki, who was put in charge of relief operations in the region after a young woman identified only as Katarzyna appealed for help to Prime Minister Donald Tusk the day before.
In Italy, about 1,000 residents have been evacuated in the northern region of Emilia-Romagna after torrential rain and severe flooding hit it overnight, authorities said Thursday.
Rivers burst their banks in three provinces in the region – Ravenna, Bologna and Forlì-Cesena – and local mayors asked residents to stay on upper floors or leave their homes. These areas were previously hit by devastating floods in May 2023, when more than 20 rivers burst their banks, killing 17 people and causing billions of euros in damage.
Italian Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Galeazzo Bignami said at a press conference on Thursday that two people were missing in Bagnocavallo, in the province of Ravenna.
At least 800 residents of Ravenna and nearly 200 residents of the province of Bologna spent the night in shelters, schools and sports centers due to the overflowing of local rivers.
Trains have been suspended and schools closed. Residents have been advised to avoid travel and work from home where possible.
