Central Europe braces for more floods as death toll rises

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Residents of several areas of Poland and the Czech Republic rushed to evacuate on Monday as others in central Europe began cleaning up after the worst flooding in over two decades left a trail of destruction and a rising number of deaths, Reuters reports.

Border areas between the Czech Republic and Poland were hit hard over the weekend as heavy rain that has fallen since last week and surging water levels collapsed some bridges, forced evacuations and damaged cars and houses.

At least 17 people have died in flooding from Romania to Poland in the past few days.

On Monday afternoon, the mayor of Nysa, a town of more than 40,000 people in southern Poland, called on residents to evacuate immediately after a nearby floodbank was damaged.

In the northeastern Czech city of Ostrava, a broken barrier on the Odra river at its confluence with the Opava river caused flooding of the city's industrial area including the BorsodChem chemical plant, coking plant OKK Koksovny and others. Hundreds of people were being evacuated from more residential areas as well. In the Czech town of Litovel, 70% of which was submerged by water up to a metre deep (3.2 feet) on Monday, residents described their fear as waters rose quickly over the weekend.

Poland's government announced a state of natural disaster in affected areas and said that it had set aside 1 billion zlotys ($260 million) to help victims.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he was in touch with the leaders of other affected countries and that they would ask the European Union for financial aid.

Szymon Krzysztan, 16, standing in the town square of Ladek Zdroj, described losses from the floods as "unimaginable".

"It's a city like in an apocalypse... It's a ghost town," he said.

Reuters footage showed the town strewn with debris and mud.

"Armageddon... It literally ripped out everything because we don't have a single bridge. In Ladek, all bridges have disappeared. We are practically cut off from the world," Jerzy Adamczyk, 70, told Reuters.

In Jesenik, a Czech town across the border that was inundated on Sunday, a clean-up was starting after waters receded to show damaged cars and debris on the streets.