Central Europe Faces Devastating Floods: Factories Shut, Towns Submerged

Flooding across central Europe resulted in the closure of factories and stores on Monday, driven by intense rainfall and river overflow. The disaster claimed at least 10 lives, led to mass evacuations, and crippled infrastructure in regions spanning from Poland to Romania, including critical industrial and energy sectors.

Factories and stores across central Europe shuttered production lines and closed their doors on Monday due to flooding that has killed at least 10 people, forced tens of thousands of evacuations, and submerged towns from Poland to Romania. In Ostrava, an industrial city in the northeast Czech Republic, BorsodChem chemical plant has been shut, a spokesperson for the company, partially owned by China's Wanhua Chemical Group, said.

OKK Koksovny, one of the largest producers of foundry coke in Europe, has halted chemicals production but is keeping coking batteries heated to minimum levels, spokesman Jindrich Vanek told Reuters. "There is water that has started rising and there must be a breach of the flood barriers," he said. "We are without electricity and we are heating our batteries with coking gas, keeping them at technological minimum."

Border areas between the Czech Republic and Poland were heavily impacted over the weekend following days of heavy rain. Bridges collapsed and homes were destroyed, with villages and towns in eastern Romania submerged. While rivers in the Czech-Polish border area began to recede on Monday, floods continued to spread, leaving larger cities in both countries on alert.

Veolia Energie shut its Trebovice electricity and heating plant, cutting hot water and heating supplies to large parts of Ostrava. "At the moment, the supply of heat and hot water in Ostrava is interrupted," a company statement read. The Czech Confederation of Industry noted that companies not directly affected by flooding faced production stoppages due to transport issues. Polish utility Tauron halted six hydroelectric plants in southern Poland. Over 60,000 people lost power Monday morning, and retailer Zabka closed around 80 outlets affected by the flood.

(With inputs from agencies.)