(Bloomberg) — The death toll from flooding in central Europe is climbing, with Poland preparing to declare a state of emergency.
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Storm Boris has brought torrential rain to the region, with red alerts still in place for parts of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and southern Germany. Six people were confirmed to have died as flash floods hit Romania over the weekend, with hundreds evacuated.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is holding an extraordinary cabinet meeting this morning, after flooding forced the evacuation of more than 3,000 people, with three fatalities reported by local media. While water levels are receding in highland areas, cities including Wroclaw are now threatened.
The weather system is mixing cold air from the north with moisture drawn from the warm waters of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, resulting in heavy downpours. After a summer of heat waves across southern Europe, climate change is increasing the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events.
In the Czech Republic, about 12,000 people were evacuated from their homes and over 200,000 households remain without electricity. The government will meet later today to assess the flood damage and its response.
One person died in the northeast of the country, with another seven still missing, according to the police. The Czech government warned last week that the situation is comparable to the major flooding that affected the country in 1997 and 2002.
Hungary is bracing for its worst flooding in more than a decade, with Budapest on the highest alert. More than a million sand bags will be deployed along the Danube in the capital, while roads along the river will be closed this evening. Peak waters levels are only expected later this week.
Cross-border trains have been halted to neighboring Austria, where many intercity rail services have been canceled around Vienna. The national rail operator has advised against any unnecessary travel until Tuesday evening, with the country bracing for heavier rain on Monday.
Power producer EVN is accelerating its draining of the Ottensteiner Reservoir, adding to flows on the Kamp River, a tributary of the Danube.
Serbia is bracing for a possible flood wave from the Danube later in the week.
River levels in the southern Polish town of Kłodzko near the Czech border were 1.5 meters above the record set in 1997, according to data from the Polish National Institute of Meteorology and Water Management.
–With assistance from Irina Vilcu and Andrea Dudik.
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