THOUSANDS OF people have been evacuated from their homes across central Europe in the second wave of major flooding to hit the region in recent weeks.
Over the past month, at least 20 people have been killed in Poland, four in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic, two in Serbia and one in Hungary, as major rivers including the Danube, Oder and Vistula have swelled to dangerous levels.
Poland, Hungary and Slovakia have launched major operations to move thousands of people from houses threatened by rising water, and several countries across the region have deployed soldiers to support emergency and rescue crews as they search for missing people, erect makeshift flood defences and seek to repair infrastructure badly damaged by the elements.
In Poland, the major city of Wroclaw is braced for a second flood-wave from the Oder river and the medieval city of Sandomierz has been inundated by the Vistula – which rose to its highest level in 160 years after weeks of almost constant rain.
In Hungary, several northern regions declared a state of emergency as floods closed 60 roads and left 18 towns cut off from the rest of the country, while in neighbouring Slovakia dozens of towns and villages were inundated and roads and rail lines were closed by flooding and landslides. The major Peugeot-Citroën factory in Slovakia was forced to close because a key supplier was flooded.
In Croatia, more than 90 per cent of farmland in eastern regions was under water and a state of emergency was declared.
In Austria, floods disrupted many rail services and cut a border-crossing with Germany, and the river Inn burst its banks and flooded part of the northern town of Schaerding.
The storms and flooding have battered transport infrastructure, housing and farmland at a time when the countries of central Europe have little spare cash to effect repairs. Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has said the damage may exceed €2 billion. Hungary has earmarked the equivalent of €5.8 million and the Czech Republic is to sell more than €100 million in bonds.