European cities brace for peak flooding as clean-up begins

Cities from Budapest to Wroclaw in Poland are scrambling to build defenses as floods peak in the coming days.

Floods that have wreaked havoc across central Europe are receding in many places after torrential rain from Storm Boris has passed, but towns and villages downstream are bracing for rising river levels. More than 20 people died in the region.

Building on the lessons learned from the massive floods of 1997, countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic have invested in control systems and retention tanks. This reduces some of the worst impacts of the flooding, although the situation in Austria is complicated by meltwater after 150 centimeters (59 inches) of snow fell in parts of the Alps in the past week.

Climate change is increasing the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, including violent storms. Slow-moving Storm Boris dumped record rainfall in places like Lower Austria after cold air from the north collided with moisture drawn from the Mediterranean Sea, which had warmed to record levels during the summer.

Europe is the fastest warming continent, with temperatures rising at around twice the global rate. This makes it particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events, from flooding in central Europe to fires still burning in northern Portugal and Greece.

“We have a Europe that is flooding and burning at the same time,” said EU crisis commissioner Janez Lenarcic. “This tragedy is not an anomaly. It quickly became the norm for our shared future.”

Europe must step up its response after the annual cost of disasters exceeded 50 billion euros ($56 billion) in 2021 and 2022, more than six times the 1980s average, Lenarcic told the European Parliament in Strasbourg .

The Czech Republic has requested support through the EU’s crisis mechanism, while an offer has also been made to Slovenia.

ING Bank put the preliminary estimate of total damage in the Czech Republic at about 0.5 percent of gross domestic product, or about 40 billion crowns ($1.8 billion).

The floods triggered emergency measures in Austria, the Czech Republic and Romania, after thousands of people were evacuated. In Lower Austria, 24 towns are still difficult or impossible to reach by road.

St Poelten, the capital of Lower Austria, had 409 millimeters (16 inches) of rain over five days, almost double the previous five-day record, according to weather service data from 1937.

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While many parts of the region begin clean-up efforts, Budapest is bracing for peak flows in the Danube, which could not come until Friday. Authorities closed sections of road and railway tracks along the river.

Further downstream, the Romanian authorities are also monitoring the Danube, the flows estimated to double by the beginning of next week.

The death toll in Poland has risen to seven as the rising Oder River threatens Wroclaw, the country’s third-largest city and the epicenter of massive flooding 27 years ago.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government announced on Wednesday that it will provide financial assistance for 12 months to mortgage holders who have lost their property. It also advised banks on the suspension of loan repayments for other types of loans.

The Czech Interior Ministry said three people were confirmed dead, while seven others were still missing.

Some roads and railways remain closed, but water levels have started to recede in many of the worst-hit areas. The army has deployed soldiers and heavy machinery to help with the clean-up.

Top photo: Residents remove furniture damaged by floods following heavy rains in Nysa, southwestern Poland, on September 17. Photographer: Bartek Sadowski/Bloomberg.

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