Europeans battle record floods

Several countries in Central and Eastern Europe saw heavy rain over the weekend. Romanian officials said the rain on September 15 was less intense than a day earlier, when flooding killed four people and damaged 5,000 homes.

Người dân châu Âu chống chọi mưa lũ kỷ lục- Ảnh 1. — People clean inside a church in the town of Pechea, Romania on September 15, after floodwaters receded.

Người dân châu Âu chống chọi mưa lũ kỷ lục- Ảnh 2. — Locals in Romania evacuate elderly people from flooded areas on September 14.

Người dân châu Âu chống chọi mưa lũ kỷ lục- Ảnh 3. — People pull a person out of floodwaters in Romania on September 14.

A slow-moving depression called Storm Boris dumped a month's worth of rain on several European cities, with Romania recording the heaviest rainfall in 24 hours in 100 years, according to CNN.

In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the town of Klodzko was the worst hit, with 1,600 people evacuated. "The situation is very tense," Mr. Tusk told reporters on September 15. The river level in the town of Klodzko was at 665 cm on the morning of September 15, much higher than the warning level of 240 cm. This number surpassed the record recorded in the historic floods in 1997, which killed 56 people in Poland and more than 100 people in Central and Eastern Europe, according to Reuters.

Người dân châu Âu chống chọi mưa lũ kỷ lục- Ảnh 4. — A neighborhood in the town of Glucholazy, Poland, is flooded on September 15.

Người dân châu Âu chống chọi mưa lũ kỷ lục- Ảnh 5. — In some houses in Glucholazy, Poland, people built sandbags to prevent floodwaters from entering.

Người dân châu Âu chống chọi mưa lũ kỷ lục- Ảnh 6. — Authorities also filled sandbags along the Biala River in Glucholazy to prevent flooding on September 14.

Parts of the Czech Republic and Poland are facing their worst flooding in three decades. The town of Glucholazy ordered an evacuation on the morning of September 15 as the river began to burst its banks. Polish authorities tried to protect a bridge in the town.

Residents in the Czech Republic also said the flooding this week was worse than anything they had ever seen. “What you see here is worse than in 1997 and I don’t know what will happen because my house is under water. I don’t know if I will be able to return,” Pavel Bily, a resident of Lipova Lazne, told Reuters.

Several other countries such as Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, and Germany also recorded heavy rain and flooding, expected to last until the end of the week.