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 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 Let our English speaking specialist guide you to find the best mortgage offer tailored to your specific needs. Free of charge, quick turnaround. A low-pressure system named Boris has triggered days of downpours and rivers have burst their banks from Poland to Romania, where the death toll rose to five on Sunday. More rain and strong winds are forecast until at least Monday. Some parts of the Czech Republic and Poland faced the worst flooding in almost three decades, as towns evacuated thousands of residents. A quarter of a million Czech homes were without power. The Austrian firefighter was killed as he tackled flooding in Lower Austria, Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler said, as authorities declared the province which surrounds the capital, Vienna, a disaster area. A bridge collapsed in the historic Polish town of Glucholazy near the Czech border. Local media said a house was swept away and a bridge collapsed in the mountain town of Stronie Slaskie, where a dam burst, according to the Polish weather institute. Residents in some flooded areas were bracing for conditions to deteriorate. "It will probably get worse, because they reported (the water) is coming from the Jizera Mountains. When it rains there, it will arrive here in five or six hours," said Ferdinand Gampl, an 84-year-old resident of the Czech village of Visnova, 138 km north of the capital, Prague. Czech police said they were looking for three people who were in a car that plunged into the river Staric on Saturday near Lipova-lazne, a village about 235 km east of Prague. Rainfall in the area has reached about 500 mm (19.7 inches) since Wednesday. Reuters footage showed flood waters gushing through Lipova-lazne and neighbouring Jesenik, damaging some houses and carrying debris. "We don't know what will be next," said Mirek Burianek, a resident of Jesenik. "The internet network isn't working, telephones don't work... We are waiting for who will show up (to help)." Lipova-lazne resident Pavel Bily told Reuters the floods were even worse than those seen in 1997. "My house is under water, and I don't know if I will even return to it," he said. Police and fire services used a helicopter to evacuate people stranded in the district. Overall, more than 10,000 people had been evacuated in the country, the head of the fire service told Czech television. Just across the border in Poland, one person died in Klodzko county, which Prime Minister Donald Tusk said was the worst-hit area of the country after meeting officials in the main town. Klodzko town was partly under water as the local river surpassed record levels recorded in 1997, when floods killed 56 people in Poland. Officials in nearby Glucholazy ordered evacuations early on Sunday although efforts to protect the town's infrastructure failed to prevent the bridge collapse. In the Hungarian capital, Budapest, officials raised forecasts for the river Danube to rise in the second half of this week to more than 8.5 metres, nearing a record of 8.91 metres in 2013. "According to forecasts, one of the biggest floods of the past years is approaching Budapest but we are prepared to tackle it," mayor Gergely Karacsony said. 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. leaving seven dead and others missing15 September 2024SummaryCountries across Central and Eastern Europe are facing extreme flooding as Storm Boris wreaks havoc across the continent A firefighter has died during a flood rescue in Austria and people have drowned in Poland and Romania while several people are missing in the Czech Republic Tens of thousands of people are without power and many have been evacuated from badly hit areas to higher ground The Austrian province surrounding Vienna has been declared a disaster area with its leaders speaking of "an unprecedented extreme situation" Poland has said it will declare a state of natural disaster - giving the government greater powers to address the flooding Edited by Kathryn Armstrong with Rob Cameron reporting from the Czech Republic and Adam Easton and Sarah Rainsford in Poland We are wrapping up our live coverage now but here is a summary of the main points from today Thanks for joining us. You can read read more about the floods in Europe here, as well as an an explanation of why the weather is so severe here Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingWatch: Flooding clean-up begins in eastern Romaniapublished at 19:14 British Summer Time 15 September 202419:14 BST 15 September 2024This video can not be played Watch: Volunteers are armed with buckets in eastern Romania to clean-up after Storm Boris Volunteers are starting the clean-up in Romania's Galati region after flooding and torrential rain The country was hit by Storm Boris over the last few days and five people have been confirmed as dead in the region Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingWhere's been hit by the flooding?published at 18:54 British Summer Time 15 September 202418:54 BST 15 September 2024Some of the areas most badly affected appear to be clustered in central Europe around the border between Poland and the Czech Republic and towards the Austrian capital Vienna Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in the worst flooding there in almost three decades Hungary and south-east Germany are also affected and flood warnings remain in place for parts of the Danube Floodwaters have also caused severe damage in Romania which is further south-west in eastern Europe It all comes after days of torrential rain from Storm Boris Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingVillage that symbolised 1997 floods asks residents to evacuatepublished at 18:36 British Summer Time 15 September 202418:36 BST 15 September 2024Rob CameronReporting from the Czech Republic Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingMore on Poland's natural disaster declarationpublished at 18:15 British Summer Time 15 September 202418:15 BST 15 September 2024Adam EastonReporting from Poland Poland's prime minister has said his government will declare a state of natural disaster in response to the floods This reserve also includes items to help with transport and energy supplies Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingTusk says Poland will declare state of natural disasterpublished at 17:47 British Summer Time 15 September 202417:47 BST 15 September 2024BreakingAdam EastonReporting from Poland Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingResidents in south-west Poland told to leave homespublished at 17:45 British Summer Time 15 September 202417:45 BST 15 September 2024Adam EastonReporting from Poland Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingFlooding will get far worse for some over coming dayspublished at 17:29 British Summer Time 15 September 202417:29 BST 15 September 2024Chris FawkesBBC Weather presenter Storm Boris hits Central and Eastern Europe A huge amount of rain has already fallen in central Europe in the last few days About 435mm (17 inches) of rain has fallen at Jeseník in the Czech Republic in the last three days – this is extreme rainfall that has resulted in severe flooding There is more rain to come through Sunday night and Monday too with river levels continuing to rise The weather will improve from Tuesday with much drier conditions however it will take many days for this flood water to work down Europe’s river catchments – and that means for some communities the flooding will get far worse even after the rain has stopped falling Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing80% of town under water Czech mayor sayspublished at 17:16 British Summer Time 15 September 202417:16 BST 15 September 2024Rob CameronReporting from the Czech Republic As much as 80% of the Silesian town of Krnov is underwater according to the deputy mayor Miroslav Binar Binar told Czech Television's regional studios in Ostrava that his town was no longer capable of co-ordinating rescue work and was relying chiefly on the Moravian-Silesian regional authority for help Moravia-Silesia regional governor Josef Belica said that the army would be deployed to deliver drinking water as much of the town remained inaccessible even to the fire brigade Helicopters were being used to winch people needing medical attention to safety Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingWatch: Helicopter rescues as deadly floods hit Europepublished at 16:53 British Summer Time 15 September 202416:53 BST 15 September 2024This video can not be played Watch: This person was one of many rescued from the flooding Rescue and evacuation operations have been taking place across Europe today after Storm Boris deluged swathes of the continent with rain and flooding You can get an idea of the scale of the destruction and the challenge facing the emergency services from the footage that has been filmed of the flooding Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingWe're waiting to see if the army will help us - Czech residentpublished at 16:36 British Summer Time 15 September 202416:36 BST 15 September 2024Image source One Czech resident in the east of the country says he's on the "border where the water is not yet there" We've been hearing from residents affected by flooding in Lipova-Lazne One local resident says he's seen fridges floating on the water and children's shoes adding that the internet and telephones aren't working "Now we are waiting for who will show up whether the army will help us," he tells the Reuters news agency Another resident says he travelled to the area to see his family but says they are "cut off from the road so I unfortunately can't get to their home" Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingPolish authorities focus efforts near Czech Republic borderpublished at 16:17 British Summer Time 15 September 202416:17 BST 15 September 2024Adam EastonReporting from Poland Up to 20cm (7.87 inches) of rainfall has fallen in the past 24 hours in places in four provinces in southern Poland The authorities are focusing their efforts however in two provinces next to the Czech border the Kłodzko county in Lower Silesia and east of there surrounding the town of Głuchołazy in Opole province the floodwater is as high as two metres (6.56 ft) deep in some parts There’s no longer running water in the taps and the gas supply may end in a few hours The military are using boats to evacuate people who have agreed to leave their homes taking refuge on the second and third floors of buildings Meanwhile the water in the town’s river is getting higher and higher swollen by the floodwater cascading down from the hillside town of Stronie Śląskie “Only the rescue operation remains,” Piszko said and “the supply of water and food to residents” Stronie Śląskie is cut off by land and military helicopters continue to evacuate its residents Video posted on X by the Polish Institute of Meteorology and Water Management showed an enormous wave of brown water destroying a house in the town the town’s mayor Paweł Szymkowicz told PAP Szymkowicz said residents who wished to be evacuated should make their way to the roof of their buildings and wave a white flag Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing'We will not leave anyone to their own devices'- Polish PMpublished at 16:01 British Summer Time 15 September 202416:01 BST 15 September 2024Image source Donald Tusk spoke to the media earlier about the floods in Poland says he's ordered the country's minister of finance to "prepare funds for emergency aid and flood damage removal" In a post on X, external Tusk adds that he has asked the country's minister of defence to send additional forces to the "threatened areas" "We will not leave anyone to their own devices," he says Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingTown of Nysa in Poland braced for worse to comepublished at 15:54 British Summer Time 15 September 202415:54 BST 15 September 2024Sarah RainsfordReporting from near Prudnik in Poland Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingCzechs asked to cooperate with evacuation orderspublished at 15:29 British Summer Time 15 September 202415:29 BST 15 September 2024Rob CameronReporting from the Czech Republic While Czech Defence Minister Jana Cernochova said on X:, external "Please tell those fools who still haven't come to terms with the help we've sent to Ukraine that yes and shared a Czech Army video showing an air force helicopter being deployed in the floods more towns and villages in the Moravia and Silesia region have ordered evacuations Fire chief Vladimir Vlcek told Czech Television a total of 10,500 people had so far been evacuated while several hundred had been rescued by dinghy or helicopter Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingWhat's happened so far today?published at 15:07 British Summer Time 15 September 202415:07 BST 15 September 2024Image source Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingEveryone in this region worries what happens nextpublished at 14:49 British Summer Time 15 September 202414:49 BST 15 September 2024Sarah RainsfordBBC Eastern Europe Correspondent approaching the area of Poland that’s underwater the sun has been out and the roads are dry But reports from closer to the Czech border are increasingly worrying The mayor of Klodzko has announced that his town has now "lost the battle" against the floods The situation is described as "critical" has told the BBC her family live near the river and the town’s main bridge has been destroyed Caravan filmed floating down flooded road in Polish town She sent the video her family filmed of a caravan floating down the road Another shows chocolate brown water gushing past their home almost at the level of the wooden garden fence Kamila is not there herself but was in touch with relatives until their phone batteries died It’s not even possible to leave the house now They are waiting and hoping for evacuation by boat or helicopter,” she told us whose parents are from Jarnoltowek village tells us they’ve been evacuated – along with the whole village The floods have already spread as far as Nysa further north and further from the mountains have sent us pictures of water pouring into their basement Everyone in this region remembers the terrible floods of 1997 and worry about what more is to come Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing'No-one knows when the water will recede - the next wave is still to come'published at 14:31 British Summer Time 15 September 202414:31 BST 15 September 2024Tereza TomanovaBBC News People in flood-hit areas of the southern Czech Republic are bracing themselves for more disruption as further rain is forecast Marek Joch lives in a small village called Lipov and tells the BBC these are the worst floods since 1997 "Lipov is currently closed from all sides "Everyone is trying to clean up as quickly as possible to prevent further large spills from the river how it will all look here and what the consequences will be "The forecast says it should rain for at least two more days A digger carries people through floodwater in Lipov in the south Moravia region of the Czech Republic Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing'We're drowning,' says Polish mayorpublished at 14:16 British Summer Time 15 September 202414:16 BST 15 September 2024Adam EastonReporting from Poland As we reported earlier, water is cascading into towns after a bridge was destroyed in Sronie Slaskie Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingLower Austria declared a catastrophe zonepublished at 13:56 British Summer Time 15 September 202413:56 BST 15 September 2024Bethany BellBBC News According to the study Child Abuse & Neglect, published by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) official records in many countries only capture a small fraction of the actual number of children living in residential care and children in privately owned centres are often not counted “It is critical that governments keep more accurate and comprehensive listings of all existing residential care facilities as well as regularly undertake thorough counts of children living in these facilities in order to help strengthen official records,” said Claudia Cappa Statistics Specialist at UNICEF and co-author of the study “That way we will be able to measure the breadth of the problem and work with governments to respond effectively.” children who are already vulnerable due to family separation are at increased risk of violence abuse and long-term damage to their cognitive Associate Director of Child Protection at UNICEF Research shows some of the key risk factors that result in children being placed in residential care include family breakdown poor or unequal provision of social services Governments are urged to reduce the number of children living in residential care by preventing family separation where possible and by seeking homes for children in family-based care such as foster homes Stronger investment in community-based family support programmes is also needed UNICEF's new estimate is based on data from 140 countries Central and Eastern Europe was found to have the highest rate worldwide with 666 children per 100,000 living in residential care over 5 times the global average of 120 children Industrialized countries have the second-highest rate with 192 children followed by East Asia and the Pacific region at 153 In the middle of the forest near Horní Lipová in Moravia hikers and other wilderness explorers can find something of an oasis a small wooden hut with both an indoor and outdoor area and cans and bottles of soft drinks and beer cooled by a nearby stream travelers can brew hot drinks like coffee or tea But the Lesní bar features no staff on hand and pay into a money box according to a price list The venue operates on the “principal of mutual trust,” according to its Facebook page a fireplace for roasting and gas canisters for cooking running water and even a toilet – everything you need for a cozy retreat during a lengthy hike You might doubt that a business like this could thrive without having its inventory or money box stolen But the Lesní bar has been operating for over a decade Václav Pavlíček, forest ranger and creator of the Bar, called it a “test of honesty” in a 2009 interview with iDnes.cz it would appear that test has been a success The Lesní bar is located in the Rychlebské mountains in the Jeseniky range off the path up the mountain above the village Lipová-lázně More information can be found on its Facebook page The bar is not the only of its kind in the Czech Republic. A similar self-service restaurant where travelers pay for what they take is located near the village of Libná on the Czech-Polish border Your morning coffee deserves a great companion. Why not enjoy it with our daily newsletter? News from Czechia, curated insights, and inspiring stories in English.