Reporting by Barbara Erling and Janis Laizans in Glucholazy Writing by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Alan Charlish; Editing by Sharon Singleton Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved 2024Danube in Austria closed to shipping due to heavy rainsThe Austrian section of the Danube River is closed to navigation until further notice after a prolonged period of heavy rainfall the Ministry for Climate Protection and Mobility in Vienna announced The closure has stranded about 70 cargo and 70 passenger vessels in Austria. Most of the passengers were able to go ashore.  The Danube is closed to navigation because the high water levels are only slowly receding after the incessant rain finally ended. The ministry says rising temperatures mean that snow that has fallen on the mountains is now expected to melt, raising fears that the Danube will rise again.  Officials said it was not yet possible to estimate how long the shipping ban would remain in effect. 09/17/2024September 17, 2024Zoo appeals for help, evacuates animalsThe main zoo of the Polish city of Wroclaw has appealed for volunteers to fill sandbags, with the Oder River expected to continue rising for the next few days The zoo said it needed some 50 volunteers for the sandbagging effort and later added that enough people had already signed up It also added that animals had been taken to a place of safety Bracing for more floodwaters in East and Central EuropeTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 09/17/2024September 17, 2024Floods recede in Austria, but situation still seriousFlood waters in Austria have started to recede but the situation remains tense in parts of the country, authorities say. The provincial governor of Lower Austria, Johanna Mikl-Leitner, says there is a lingering threat of dam breaches and landslides, with many people still without electricity. Mikl-Leitner said it was vital to stay cautious and vigilant.  Water broke dams in 21 places in the state on Monday, with the clean-up likely to take weeks or even months.  Mikl-Leitner said there was "a great deal of human suffering, a great deal of financial suffering." The full extent of the damage remains unknown. In Lower Austria, 271 roads are still closed due to flooding, with 26 communities isolated by land.  Some 33,000 emergency service workers were on duty during the four days of continuous rainfall, authorities said. 09/17/2024September 17, 2024Elbe rises slower than expectedThe state of Saxony is yet to declare its highest warning level, with the Elbe rising more slowly than previously expectedImage: Robert Michael/dpa/picture allianceThe water level on the Elbe River continued to rise slowly in the eastern German state of Saxony In the city of Dresden the water level reached 5.86 meters at 7 a.m the state will declare its second-highest flood alarm level with hydrologists expecting the highest flood alarm level to be reached either in Dresden or the town of Schöna near the Czech border People in Dresden have been rushing to remove parts of a partially collapsed bridge ahead of the expected flooding. 09/17/2024September 17, 2024Polish town races to fortify dyke; Tusk holds crisis meeting in WroclawPeople in the town of Nysa in southern Poland raced to strengthen fortifications along a dyke amid heavy floodingImage: KG PSP Photo via AP/dpa/picture alliance People in the town of Nysa in southwestern Poland were rushing to fortify a weakened dyke with sandbags to combat severe flooding some 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of the major city of Wroclaw Local residents in Nysa joined forces with the army and the fire brigade to assist in the efforts "There were about 2,000 people on the dyke: women children and senior citizens," Mayor Kordian Kolbiarz told the Rmf.fm radio station adding that people had formed a human chain to transport the sandbags In Wroclaw, a crisis management meeting convened with Prime Minister Donald Tusk to address the escalating situation Tusk said there were contradictory forecasts as to whether floodwaters would reach Wroclaw adding that the predictions needed to be analyzed in detail The Polish government has declared a state of natural disaster in affected areas to streamline the enforcement of emergency measures At least four people have died in flooding in Poland so far ',error:'',remove:''},getContent=function(n){var t=n.type,e=n.text,i=n.subtext,o=n.allowDismiss;return'\n '.concat(icons[t],'\n \n ').concat(e?''.concat(e," This page will automatically redirect in 5 seconds.. \n '+(null!=(o=r(e,"if").call(u,null!=n?r(n,"cta2PreText"):n,{name:"if",hash:{},fn:l.program(20,t,0),inverse:l.noop,data:t,loc:{start:{line:29,column:20},end:{line:29,column:61}}}))?o:"")+"\n"+(null!=(o=(r(e,"ifAll")||n&&r(n,"ifAll")||l.hooks.helperMissing).call(u,null!=n?r(n,"cta2Text"):n,null!=n?r(n,"cta2Link"):n,{name:"ifAll",hash:{},fn:l.program(22,t,0),inverse:l.noop,data:t,loc:{start:{line:30,column:20},end:{line:35,column:30}}}))?o:"")+" \n \n '+i((u=null!=(u=p(e,"title")||(null!=n?p(n,"title"):n))?u:c,(0,_typeof2.default)(u)===s?u.call(r,{name:"title",hash:{},data:t,loc:{start:{line:20,column:73},end:{line:20,column:82}}}):u))+"\n "+i((u=null!=(u=p(e,"subtext")||(null!=n?p(n,"subtext"):n))?u:c,(0,_typeof2.default)(u)===s?u.call(r,{name:"subtext",hash:{},data:t,loc:{start:{line:21,column:24},end:{line:21,column:35}}}):u))+"\n \n You don't have permission to access the page you requested. What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed. which operates distribution grids in regions affected by the flooding still has some of its infrastructure switched off for safety reasons.Since Sunday Tauron has restored power to 80,000 customers the company said in response to a question from Reuters."In the last 24 hours and Jelenia Gora," Tauron's distribution unit spokesperson Renata Szczepaniak said.Reporting by Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Sharon Singleton Flooding in Central Europe from Austria to Romania caused by torrential rain from the Boris low pressure system has claimed eight lives and forced thousands to evacuate their homes, causing the worst flooding in thirty years in areas of the Czech Republic and Poland particularly affected, on Sunday, the 15th of September, reports Reuters Forecasts suggest that the adverse weather conditions in Central Europe will gradually ease by Tuesday The Polish government was due to meet on Monday morning to declare a state of emergency bridges washed away and at least 250 000 households – mainly in the Czech Republic – were left without electricity One person drowned in south-western Poland on Sunday a firefighter was killed in Austria while taking part in rescue operations where floods claimed the lives of four people on Saturday a bridge collapsed and local officials ordered evacuations early on Sunday while local media reported that another bridge had collapsed in the mountain town of Stronie Slonske It is called the worst disaster in 100 years pic.twitter.com/xShGWVZfrY — Europe Invasion (@EuropeInvasionn) September 15, 2024 — Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur (@aga_tumilowicz) September 15, 2024 told on X platform that the government would declare a state of disaster and seek European Union assistance Kłodzko, Poland 3 days ago and last night pic.twitter.com/bkfs55RoYw — Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) September 15, 2024 told Polish Radio on Monday that thousands of firefighters policemen and soldiers have been battling the floods over the past 24 hours but the government is still working to determine the extent of the damage European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU “stands ready to support” the flood-affected areas authorities were searching for three missing people after their car fell into the Starič river during heavy flooding.  the rising Morava River in Litovel on Monday night left around 70% of the population under water and closed schools and health facilities a power plant and two chemical plants in Ostrava were closed due to flooding More than 12 000 people were evacuated by helicopter and Prime Minister Petr Fiala called an emergency cabinet meeting on Monday The first confirmed casualty in the Czech Republic was also reported on Monday as the number of victims across the region rises efforts to restore electricity to 11 000 homes and to repair flood damage began as the heavy rains receded water levels are expected to rise from 7.5m on Sunday to a peak of 9.3m on Tuesday with Slovak capital Bratislava and Hungarian capital Budapest preparing for it.  river and reservoir levels dropped overnight as the rain eased but officials said they were preparing for a second wave of rain as heavier rain is expected in the coming hours Also read: VIDEO | Low Danube reveals sunken WWII ships in Serbia and Hungary Also read: Week in Lithuania | TT-Line launches Klaipėda-Travemunde ferry; Ministry raises 2024 GDP growth forecast to 2.3% Follow us on Facebook and X! Watch 27sFlooding affected the historic Polish town of Głuchołazy after heavy rains over large swathes of Europe. CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) Europe Soraya EbrahimiSeptember 15, 2024 Heartfelt solidarity with all affected by the devastating floods in Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.Thank you to all those helping for their tireless work. The EU stands ready to support. Meanwhile, the flood has been tamed. The Odra River did not flood either Opole or Wroclaw. The water dropped to safe levels. The military, however, did not return to the barracks. The military chemists are accompanied by medical support. In the flood-affected regions, mobile teams operate to vaccinate people against tetanus, typhoid, hepatitis. Specialists deployed by military preventive medicine centers have already vaccinated nearly 3,000 people. Over 1,100 patients also underwent treatment at a temporary hospital erected by the army in Nysa. “Operation Phoenix is a huge test for us – starting with planning, cooperation of various army service branches, or a civil-military cooperation. Obviously, some of these elements are trained during various exercises, but here we must put everything together. In addition, we operate in an actual environment, and we face the actual problems of actual people. It is also a kind of empathy test for us,” emphasizes BrigGen Krzysztof Stańczyk. Still, will the army conduct such an operation again? 20245:41 PM UTCIn pictures: Poland begins cleanup after historic floodingThe worst floods to hit central Europe in recent memory have caused widespread damage in Poland with some analysts saying the final cost could be on par or even exceed that seen after devastating floods in 1997 [1/19]A destroyed car at the Biala Ladecka River lies submerged after flooding in Zelazno [2/19]The sink from a destroyed house lies in the aftermath of flooding by the Biala Ladecka river in Trzebieszowice [3/19]A house was destroyed by the flood wave of Biala Ladecka river [5/19]A tap from a destroyed house lies in the aftermath of flooding by the Biala Ladecka River in Trzebieszowice [6/19]Household items sit on shelves at a destroyed house in the aftermath of Biala Ladecka river flooding in Trzebieszowice a man cleans a house in Czechowice - Dziedzice Agencja Wyborcza.pl/Grzegorz Celejewski via REUTERSCZECHOWICE - DZIEDZICE [9/19]Rooms exposed from collapsed walls are seen at a destroyed house in the aftermath of flooding by the Biala Ladecka river in Trzebieszowice [10/19]Debris is pictured by the entrance of a building after the flood in Glucholazy [11/19]Local resident Bronislaw Talarczyk shows water level during floods in Glucholazy [12/19]A general view of the bridge destroyed during the flood in Glucholazy [13/19]Wojtek and Dorota Duczkowscy stand in front of their apartment damaged by the floods in Glucholazy [14/19]Wojtek Duczkowski fills the bucket with water in Glucholazy [15/19]A Polish army Mi17 helicopter lowers sandbags to strengthen the flood embankment at the Oder river banks in Dobrzen Wielki [16/19]A general view of damage and debris carried by the flood wave of Biala Ladecka river [17/19]A view of a house destroyed by the flood wave of Biala Ladecka river [18/19]A car damaged by the flood wave of Biala Ladecka river is seen aftermath of flooding in Ladek Zdroj [19/19]People look at a house destroyed by the flood wave of Biala Ladecka river © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved Reporting by Adam Smith @adamndsmith; Editing by Clar Ni Chonghaile and Ayla Jean Yackley; The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters Visit <a href="https://www.context.news" target="_blank">https://www.context.news</a> Storm Boris has caused several deaths, and thousands have been evacuated from their homes across Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia Photograph: Daniel Mihăilescu/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock Photograph: Tomáš Benedikovič/AFP/Getty Images In Jesenik, Tschechien, hält sich ein Mann an einem Geländer fest, um sicher durch die Fluten zu waten. Landesweit galt an mehr als 120 Pegel-Messstationen die höchste Hochwasser-Alarmstufe. Nach heftigen Regenfällen und Sturmböen sind die Straßen der Kleinstadt Glucholazy im Süden Polens überflutet: »Wir gehen unter«, sagte der Bürgermeister und rief die Einwohner auf, sich in Sicherheit zu bringen. Tausende Menschen mussten evakuiert werden. Glucholazy aus der Luft: Ein Zentrum steht unter Wasser. Zwei Kinder huckepack, den Hund an der Leine: Eine Familie flieht in Glucholazy vor dem Hochwasser, das aus dem Fluss Biala kommt und die Wälle und Dämme in zwei Städten überflutet. Evakuierung per Boot: Einwohner des polnischen Ortes Rudawa im Süden Polens werden aus ihren Häusern geholt. Im Südwesten des Landes war am Nachmittag ein Staudamm gebrochen. Mindestens ein Mensch ist gestorben. Auch der Ort Jawiszowice in Polen ist kaum noch sichtbar. Polens Regierungschef Donald Tusk sagte den von der Flut geschädigten Bürgern finanzielle Hilfen zu. Seine Regierung werde dazu auch Unterstützung bei der EU beantragen, schrieb Tusk auf X. Gräber unter Wasser: Ein überfluteter Friedhof im polnischen Brzeszcze. Panzer rollen durch Nysa: Die Behörden haben die Armee um Hilfe gerufen. Reißende Wogen voller Schlamm: Der Nebenfluss der Oder habe bei Klodzko einen Pegelstand von 6,84 Meter. Üblich sei ein durchschnittlicher Wasserstand von etwa einem Meter, sagte ein Sprecher der Feuerwehr. Lukasz Cynalewski / Agencja Wyborcza.pl / REUTERS Auch in Tschechien gibt es heftige Überschwemmungen: Hier ein Blick auf die Elbe in Spindlermühle. Besonders dramatisch ist die Situation in der tschechischen Stadt Krnov, die fast komplett überflutet worden ist. Der stellvertretende Bürgermeister Miroslav Binar sagte der Agentur CTK zufolge, dass geschätzt 70 bis 80 Prozent des Stadtgebiets unter Wasser stünden. Der Fluss Bela in Jesenik: An mehr als 50 Stationen wurde ein Jahrhunderthochwasser gemeldet. Auch in Jesenik sind Helfer im Einsatz, um Menschen aus ihren Häusern zu evakuieren. Die Regierung in Prag will am Montag zusammenkommen, um über außerordentliche finanzielle Hilfen für Betroffene zu entscheiden. Der tschechische Präsident Petr Pavel rief zu Spenden für die Hochwasser-Opfer auf. Er merkte an, dass die am stärksten betroffenen Gebiete wie um Jesenik im Altvatergebirge und Frydlant in Nordböhmen zugleich einige der ärmsten Regionen des Landes seien. Heftige Regenfälle lassen die Talsperre im tschechischen Husinec (Böhmerwald) überlaufen: Die darunter liegenden Gemeinden entlang der Blanice konnten frühzeitig gewarnt werden. Nach dem Sturm: Umgestürzte Bäume in der Nähe des tschechischen Dorfes Èuèice. Das überflutete Stadtzentrum im tschechischen Freiwaldau. Aufwischen nach der Flut: Diese Kirche im rumänischen Dorf Pechea stand nach den heftigen Regenfällen und Stürmen unter Wasser. In Rumänien sind mindestens sechs Menschen ums Leben gekommen. Auch diese Klinik in Pechea, Rumänien, wurde nicht verschont: In der südöstlichen Region Galati standen Menschen bis zum Oberkörper im Wasser. Hunderte mussten im ganzen Land aus den Fluten gerettet werden, viele Häuser waren überflutet, insgesamt waren fast 6000 Haushalte betroffen. Präsident Klaus Iohannis sprach von »dramatischen Folgen« des Klimawandels. Schutzmaßnahmen in Wien: Einsatzkräfte bauen auf den Gleisen der U4 bei der Pilgramgasse eine Hochwasserschutzmauer auf. Bei Auspump-Arbeiten kam ein Feuerwehrmann in Österreich am Sonntag ums Leben. Die Donau ist in Passau über die Ufer getreten: Einige Bereiche der Altstadt stehen bereits im Hochwasser. Am Sonntag war die Lage in Deutschland insgesamt noch weitgehend entspannt, aber in einigen Orten galten erste Alarmstufen. Teile Süd- und Ostdeutschlands bereiteten sich auf steigendes Hochwasser vor. Steigende Pegel in Dresden: Erste Flächen des Elbufers sind auf der Neustädter Seite gegenüber der historischen Altstadtkulisse vom Wasser der Elbe überflutet. One person has drowned in Poland and an Austrian firefighter has died responding to floods, authorities said yesterday, as Storm Boris lashed central and eastern Europe with torrential rains. Since Thursday, swathes of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia have been hit by high winds and unusually fierce rainfall. The storm had already caused the death of four people in Romania, and thousands have been evacuated from their homes across the continent. “We have the first confirmed death by drowning, in the Klodzko region” on the Polish-Czech border, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said yesterday morning. Tusk was traveling through the southwest of the country, which has been hit hardest by the floods. About 1,600 people have been evacuated in Klodzko, and Polish authorities have called in the army to support firefighters on the scene. Separately, a firefighter in northeastern Austria died in floods in the Lower Austria region, which has been classified as a natural disaster zone. “Unfortunately, a firefighter has died while responding to the flooding,” Lower Austria Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner told reporters yesterday. Emergency services had made about 5,000 interventions overnight in Lower Austria, where flooding had trapped many residents in their homes. Polish authorities shut the Golkowice border crossing with the Czech Republic after a river flooded its banks on Saturday, as well as closing several roads and halting trains on the line linking the towns of Prudnik and Nysa. In the nearby village of Glucholazy, Zofia Owsiaka watched with fear as the fast-flowing waters of the swollen Biala river surged past. “Water is the most powerful force of nature. Everyone is scared,” said Owsiaka, 65. In the Czech Republic, police reported that four people were missing yesterday. Three were in a car that was swept into a river in the northeastern town of Lipova-Lazne, and another man was missing after being swept away by floods in the southeast. A dam in the south of the country burst its banks, flooding towns and villages downstream. On Saturday, four people died in floods in southeastern Romania, with the bodies found in the worst-affected region, Galati in the southeast, where 5,000 homes were damaged. “We are again facing the effects of climate change, which are increasingly present on the European continent, with dramatic consequences,” Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said. Hundreds of people have been rescued across 19 parts of Romania, emergency services said, releasing a video of flooded homes in a village by the Danube River. 2024last updated 09/16/2024last updated September 16 2024A dam overflowed in southern Poland and several districts of Vienna were left without power amid heavy rainfall and flooding across Europe These live updates are now closed. Please visit our Monday blog for the latest on floods in Europe. 09/16/2024September 16, 2024At least 6 dead in Romania, 1 in Poland and in AustriaA view of the flooded streets in Glucholazy, southern PolandImage: Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty ImagesThe known death toll from flooding in Europe has risen to eight as torrential rains from Storm Boris, or "Anett" as it's known in German, battered central and eastern regions of the continent.  On Sunday, the bodies of two more people were found in Romania, where floods had claimed four lives a day before. One person was reported missing.  One person drowned in southwestern Poland and in Austria a fireman died while responding to the floods. Authorities in the Czech Republic said that four people who were swept away by high waters were missing.  Forecasters have warned of more rain and strong winds until at least Monday. Meanwhile, Romania saw the rain ease on Sunday.  09/15/2024September 15, 2024Krnov in the Czech Republic almost completely under waterThe Czech town of Krnov has been almost completely flooded. Deputy Mayor Miroslav Binar told the CTK agency that an estimated 70% to 80% of the town is under water.  The Opava and Opavice rivers meet in Krnov, which is located about 240 kilometers (150 miles) east of Prague and has a population of just under 23,000.  According to Binar, it is now too late to evacuate the inhabitants of Krnov and the situation is worse than during the 1997 flood disaster.  Helicopters were used to rescue people in distress from the air. The situation was also critical in many other places in the east of the country, such as the cities of Opava and Ostrava.  Meanwhile, Czech President Petr Pavel has appealed for donations to help the flood victims. In a post on X, he noted that the worst-affected areas, such as around Jesenik in the and Frydlant, are also some of the poorest regions in the country. The government will meet in Prague on Monday to decide on extraordinary financial aid for those affected.  09/15/2024September 15, 2024River overflows, flooding streets and homes in ViennaThe water level of the Wien River in the western part of Vienna rose from 50 centimeters to 2.26 meters in the course of a day, emergency officials said. Hiking and biking trails are flooded, and restaurant terraces along the river's banks are under water.  In the suburb of Penzing, northwest of Vienna, the Wien River also overflowed its banks in some places. Homes were evacuated, while streets and an underground parking garage were under water.  Electricity was cut off in three districts of Vienna. The power company promised to restore service as soon as possible. Two subway lines in Vienna were partially closed. 2024Heavy rains cause dam to fail in southwestern PolandA dam in southwestern Poland has burst after heavy rains gave way and water from the Biala Ladecka River is now flowing freely into the Nysa Klodzka catchment area The town of Stronie Slaskie is located in the Klodzko Valley on Poland's border with the Czech Republic Police have sent a rescue helicopter to the area to bring people stranded by the water to safety Army soldiers are also on the scene.  a dam burst in the nearby mountain village of Miedzygorze.  Storm Boris lashes large parts of Central, Eastern Europe To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 2024Elbe River levels rise in east of GermanyGermany's eastern state of Saxony is bracing for flooding as Germany's Central European neighbors battle rain and rising water levels.  State officials said the Elbe River at Schöna was expected to crest at 7.50 meters (23 feet) on Tuesday afternoon That will be enough to trigger the highest alert level in the area The Elbe has already reached 5.59 meters (16 feet) at Schöna over three times its usual average of 1.58 meters (4 feet) It is expected to reach 6 meters by Sunday evening.  If the water rises enough to trigger the highest alarm level Its historic center will be protected from rising water levels by mobile barriers that will be set up on Monday.  Authorities in Dresden were also racing to complete the removal of parts of a bridge that collapsed into the Elbe River on Wednesday ahead of expected flooding. Initial demolition work was completed on Saturday, the city's environmental agency said. 09/15/2024September 15, 2024Budapest preparing for 'one of the biggest floods of the past years'Officials in Hungary's capital, Budapest, said that the Danube is expected to rise to above 8.5 meters (27.9 feet). This would bring the water level close to the record 8.91 meters that were registered in 2013. "According to forecasts, one of the biggest floods of the past years is approaching Budapest but we are prepared to tackle it," Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony said. 09/15/2024September 15, 2024Czech police search for missing people after car falls into riverCzech police said they were looking for three missing people who were in a car that fell into the river Staric on Saturday near the village of Lipova-lazne in the eastern Czech Republic. The village and the nearby town of Jesenik have been some of the worst hit in the flooding affecting the Central European country. Police and fire services used helicopters to evacuate people from Jesenik district. The head of the service told Czech television that over 10,000 people had been evacuated. 09/15/2024September 15, 2024Romania storm death toll climbs to fiveA fifth person has died in Romania as a storm swept across eastern and central Europe, emergency services said. "Another deceased victim has been identified, bringing the total number of deceased to five," rescuers said in a statement. "Four people had previously been found dead in the same region of Galati, in the country's southeast." On Saturday, four bodies were found in the worst-hit region of Galati, where 5,000 homes were damaged. 2024Poland-Czech train connection disrupted by floodingPolish rail operator PKP has suspended train services to the neighboring Czech Republic due to severe flooding.  Trains from the Czech Republic to Poland have been canceled until further notice Trains from Poland to the Czech Republic will stop at the last station before the border.  Both southwestern Poland and large parts of the Czech Republic have been affected by flooding following heavy rainfall Czech Republic hit by flooding, rain predicted to continueTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 2024Austrian firefighter killed in floodsA firefighter battling flooding in Lower Austria was killed Austrian Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler said on social media platform X as authorities declared the northeastern state which surrounds Vienna and borders the Czech Republic and Slovakia The firefighter was pumping water from a cellar when he died the state's crisis management team said.  In parts of Austria, the landscape has 'turned into a lakescape'To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "We are experiencing difficult and dramatic hours in Lower Austria," said state Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner. "For many people in Lower Austria, these will be the hardest hours of their lives," she added. "We will do everything we can to hold back the water and protect the country and its people." Emergency crews responded to nearly 5,000 calls overnight in the state of Lower Austria, where flooding left many residents stranded in their homes.  The Wien river, which runs through Vienna, was flowing fast and high on Sunday, but its meter-high walls were still holding in most places.  Vienna's subway system was disrupted, and Austrian rail operator ÖBB suspended train service on a line south of the Danube.  09/15/2024September 15, 2024Floods in southwestern Poland cause one death, force evacuationsOne person drowned and 1,600 people were evacuated in the Klodzko district of southwestern Poland as local rivers rose to record levels after days of heavy rainfall. "The situation is very dramatic, it's most dramatic in Klodzko county," Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters on Sunday after meeting with the crisis management team in the town of Klodzko. Some 17,000 households in the district were left without power, and cellphone service was down in some areas. Road access to the towns of Ladek Zdroj and Stronie Slaskie was virtually cut off, Tusk said. Klodzko, a town of 25,000, was partially submerged as the local river rose nearly 7 meters (about 22 feet), well above the alert level of 240 and surpassing a record set during heavy flooding in 1997 that partially damaged the town and claimed 56 lives in Poland. 09/15/2024September 15, 2024Lower Austria declared disaster zoneAuthorities declared the state of Lower Austria a disaster zone due to severe flooding from continuous heavy rain on Sunday Lower Austria Deputy Governor Stephan Pernkopf warned of "massive floods" and potential landslides in some places adding that "the situation is worsening due to the massive rainfall across the country."  roads are flooded and emergency services had to step in to rescue people trapped in their homes overnight.  One person was rescued from floodwaters of the Pielach River Several municipalities issued evacuation orders, with rubber dinghies pressed into use. 09/15/2024September 15, 2024Dam overflows in southwest PolandKrakow in Poland was hit hard, with residents being evacuated and public transport disruptedImage: Agencja Wyborcza.pl/REUTERSA dam in southwest Poland overflowed late Saturday after heavy rainfall as flooding continued to devastate Central Europe amid historic extreme weather.  Despite efforts to drain water and prevent the surge the dam in Międzygórze overflowed, leading to evacuations from nearby villages.  The dam, built in the early 20th century, is near the Czech border. 2024Heavy rainfall devastates Central EuropeEmergency responders in the Czech Republic and Austria struggled to manage rising waters even as Romania reported four flood-related deaths on Saturday amid unprecedented heavy rainfall.  southern Germany and parts of Austria are expected to see more heavy rain Some areas in Austria have been declared disaster zones and residents evacuated from there In Czech Republic, the north-western administrative region of Usti nad Labem bordering Germany is worst affected, with more than 20,000 households without power. The highest flood alert level has been issued in approximately 35 locations across the Czech Republic Authorities also suspended all shipping traffic with residents being evacuated and public transport disrupted when authorities appealed to residents to stock up on supplies Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak had warned that "the worst is yet to come." Central Europe braces for heavy rain and floodingTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video InvestingTravel Chaotic, Damage Mounts After Central European FloodsBy Marton EderPublished: September 15, 2024 at 3:08AM EDT (Bloomberg) -- Widespread flooding in central and eastern Europe from days of unrelenting rain is playing havoc with rail transportation and causing more evacuations of residents as well as damage to homes and infrastructure. Some of the worst scenes on Sunday were in southwest Poland. In Glucholazy, a temporary bridge was torn away and another still under construction damaged as floodwaters raced through the town. A dam collapsed in Stronie Slaskie, cutting the town of about 6,000 people off from surrounding areas.  Prime Minister Donald Tusk asked his finance minister to prepare emergency aid, and Poland will also ask for European aid. “We will not leave anyone to fend for themselves,” Tusk said on X, formerly Twitter.   Poland’s defense minister said five police and military helicopters were being used to evacuate people.   In Austria, rail traffic was suspended on a section of a key line between Vienna and Salzburg due to flooding risk, and subway services on at least three lines in the capital, Vienna, were also affected.   Trains will be halted between Amstetten and St. Valentin on the so-called Weststrecke, a four-track high-speed route which accounts for about one third of all Austrian rail traffic and serves as a key connector between Germany and eastern Europe. About 40 train lines in the Czech Republic were closed by Sunday. Passenger rail traffic between the Czech Republic and Poland has been suspended until further notice, the Polish railways PKP Intercity said. Torrential rain has caused flooding across large swathes of central and eastern Europe. In Romania, flash flooding caused four deaths, and at least one death was reported in Poland and one — a firefighter — in Austria. Two more people in Romania have been missing for two days, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said Sunday.  The low-pressure vortex centered over the Balkan peninsula bought further, often heavy precipitation, on Sunday, especially in north, central and eastern Austria, according to the forecasting service GeoSphere.   Lower Austria, the country’s most populous province after Vienna, declared a state of emergency and advised people to postpone unnecessary travel. Authorities have evacuated about 1,100 homes so far.  Officials expect Austria’s Ottensteiner Reservoir to exceed capacity despite draining about half of its water volume in preparation for the heavy rains that started late last week. That will likely lead to further increase in water levels along the Kamp River, a tributary of the Danube.  “From Thursday to Sunday morning, some regions will have two to four times as much rain as in an average September,” said the Austrian forecasting against Geosphere.  Listen on Zero: Climate Change Is ‘Loading the Weather Dice Against Us’ The highest recorded total was 353.6 millimeters (14 inches) at St. Poelten, west of Vienna.   Following heavy snowfall in the mountains Friday and Saturday down to lower elevations, Austria’s snow line will slowly rise to about 1,200 to 1,600 meters (3,937 to 5,249 feet) above sea level over the course of Sunday.  Polish and Czech authorities have also mobilized tens of thousands of first responders, and at least two border crossings between the countries were closed on Saturday due to the flooding of local roads on the Czech side. The situation in the Czech Republic worsened into Sunday, with rivers flooding many towns and villages, mainly in the northeastern parts of the country.  “River levels have yet to peak in some places and we will be facing these difficult conditions for the rest of the day and probably also tomorrow,” Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Sunday as he appealed to residents to follow instructions from rescue services and leave their homes if necessary.  Authorities have begun evacuating more than 10,000 residents in the Czech town of Opava near the Polish border, and thousands more were forced to leave in nearby regions. Rescue services deployed army helicopters to help lift people trapped in inundated houses. More than 250,000 households were without electricity on Sunday morning.  --With assistance from Peter Laca, Irina Vilcu and Zoe Schneeweiss. 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