Central Europe Battles Devastating Floods Amid Torrential Rains

Widespread torrential rains have caused severe floods across Central Europe, prompting evacuations in the hardest-hit areas. In the Czech Republic, authorities issued the highest flood warnings in multiple regions, with water levels still rising and further heavy rains anticipated. The floods have disrupted power supplies and traffic, and four people remain missing.

Another night of torrential rains pounding Central Europe forced massive evacuations in the hardest-hit areas in the Czech Republic, where floods reached extreme levels on Sunday.

Meteorologists have warned the situation might worsen as waters in most rivers are rising, the flood wave continues through the country, and more heavy rains are expected overnight.

Authorities declared the highest flood warnings in nearly 90 places and in two northeastern regions that recorded the most rainfall in recent days, including the Jeseniky mountains near the Polish border. In Opava city, up to 10,000 of the 56,000 residents were asked to evacuate to higher ground. Rescuers used boats to transport people to safety from a neighborhood flooded by the Opava River.

"There's no reason to wait," Mayor Tomáš Navrátil told Czech public radio, comparing the situation to the devastating 1997 floods known as the "flood of the century." Thousands more were evacuated in Krnov and Cesky Tesin towns, with the Oder River expected to reach extreme levels in Ostrava and Bohumin cities. The military sent a helicopter to aid evacuations in Jeseniky mountains, where four people swept away by waters are missing, police said. About 260,000 households were without power Sunday morning, and traffic was halted on many roads, including the major D1 highway.

In Poland, one person was presumed dead in southwest floods, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Sunday, calling the situation "dramatic" around Klodzko town. Rising waters flooded streets and houses in Glucholazy, where Mayor Pawel Szymkowicz appealed to residents to evacuate. Energy supplies were disrupted, with regions potentially resorting to satellite-based Starlink service, Tusk said. Several Central European nations, including Romania, Austria, Germany, Slovakia, and Hungary, faced severe flooding due to a low-pressure system from northern Italy. Scientists link these intense rainfalls to human-caused climate change and a hotter atmosphere.

(With inputs from agencies.)