Europe: Heavy rains batter Poland, Czech Republic, Austria

German and Austrian mountain rescuers were working to find a person buried by an avalanche in the northern Alps , the Tirol control center said on Saturday. 

The avalanche struck in the Karwendel Mountains in the state of Tirol, not far south of the German border in Vomp. 

Tirol's police said the man was a member of a hiking group of around 30 people who had come from Bavaria. The rest of the group were safe and accounted for.

A spokesman for mountain rescuers in Tirol said that heavy fog meant it was not initially possible to approach the area by helicopter and so first responders reached the avalanche area on foot. 

However, a helicopter was later able to fly in from Germany to the north of the site, he said. Rescue dogs were among those on the scene seeking the missing person on Saturday. 

The same weather front bringing severe rains to much of the continent also led tothe first major snowfall since the summer in mountainous areas of Austria and southern Germany. 

Polish officials warned of the risk of flooding as heavy rain continues to pound areas near the Czech border.

"We are facing a critical night, full mobilisation is required," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said that heavy rain was expected to continue falling in southern Poland.

In the town of Glucholazy in Poland's southwestern Opole region, which lies near the Czech border, firefights piled sandbags along the Biala Glucholaska river and residents were evacuated.

Officials in neighboring Slovakia also warned of flooding in the capital, Bratislava. Hungary expects the Danube to reach near record-high levels in the coming days.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said all federal states were affected by rainfall and the situation was deteriorating, particularly in the northeastern state of Lower Austria.

"The coming days will still be extremely difficult and challenging for the affected population and the emergency services," Nehammer said on X.

In Austria, emergency services were working with district governors and  municipalities to prepare for evacuations.

Austria declared over a dozen districts disaster zones as Central Europe grapples with heavy rainfall and flooding.

"The coming hours will be the moment of truth for our flood protection service and a massive test of endurance for our emergency services and fellow citizens," the premier of the northeastern state of Lower Austria, Johanna Mikl-Leitner, said.

She said that the Lower Austria district of Waldviertel was facing challenges of a "historic" nature.

Emergency services also warned that the Ottenstein reservoir in the west of the state could burst its banks.

Poland's second largest city, Krakow, was hit by heavy rains.

City officials said on X they were offering sandbags for protection. People could pick them up at 28 locations in the city.

Public transportation in the southern Polish metropolis of about 800,000 was also temporarily disrupted on Saturday after flood water submerged several underpasses in the city center.

Trams and buses had to be temporarily rerouted.

The water levels of the Danube and Elbe rivers in eastern Germany continued to rise on Saturday as Central Europe reels with the effects of heavy rain.

However, authorities did not consider the situation in Germany to be dangerous as of late Saturday afternoon.

The highest rise in the water level was expected in the town of Passau in the southeastern state of Bavaria, which lies near the border with Austria and at the confluence of the Danube with two of its major tributaries, the Inn and the Ilz.

Local authorities in Passau reported that the water level on the Danube was around 7.9 meters (25.9 feet) and that of the Ilm some 5.5 meters.

Officials said that widespread flooding was not expected, but that there could be sporadic flooding of certain buildings or basements.

*Correction, Oct 15, 2024: A previous version of this article stated that the Ilm, rather than the Inn, was one of the two major Danube tributaries which confluence in Passau. This has now been corrected. We apologize for the error.

More than 180 patients from the Brothers of Mercy Hospital in Brno, the second biggest city in the Czech Republic, were gradually transferred to other facilities, according to the hospital management. 

Emergency services and the fire department assisted with transporting the patients. 

Flood warnings have been issued across the city as water levels of Svratka river — which flows through Brno — continue to rise.

Water seeped through the sewer system into the basement of the hospital, where the power supply units are located. 

Meanwhile, the mayor of the resort town of Spindleruv Mlyn in the Giant Mountains advised all tourists and visitors to leave town. The Elbe river was threatening to burst its banks and flood the town's only main road. 

More rain has fallen in southwestern Poland since Friday morning than during the so-called millennium flood of 1997. 

In Jarnoltowek, in the Silesian region of Opole, 161.5 millimeters (6.4 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours, according to the Polish Meteorological Institute (IMGW). 

That was 30 millimeters more than the previous record, set during the catastrophic flood of 1997. Alert levels were exceeded at 47 water gauging stations across the country. 

The mayor of Jarnoltowek ordered the evacuation of residents whose homes were located below a reservoir that threatened to overflow. Residents of two neighboring villages on the Zloty Potok river were also ordered to evacuate.

According to researchers at Imperial College London, the catastrophic rainfall now hitting central Europe is exactly what scientists expect from climate change.

"A warmer atmosphere heated by fossil fuel emissions can hold more moisture, leading to heavier downpours. Weather station data also indicates that bursts of September rainfall have become heavier in Germany, Poland, Austria, Czechia, Hungary and Slovakia since 1950," Grantham Institute researcher Joyce Kimutai said.

The scientist warned that until the world replaces fossil fuels with cleaner, renewable energy sources, such floods will continue to escalate.

Friederike Otto, a senior climate science lecturer at the Grantham Institute, warned of economic costs of extreme weather.

"It’s clear that even highly developed countries like Germany are not safe from climate change. As long as the world burns oil, gas and coal, heavy rainfall and other weather extremes will intensify, making our planet a more dangerous and expensive place to live," she said.

At least four people lost their lives in Romania after torrential rains swept across central and eastern Europe, rescue services said. 

The victims were found during a search and rescue operation in the southeastern region of Galati. Rescuers also released a video showing flooded homes in a village on the Danube river.

Romania's Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu canceled scheduled engagements Saturday to travel to Galati to assess the fallout. 

The storms hit 19 localities in eight counties in Romania, with strong winds toppling dozens of trees, damaging cars and blocking roads and traffic. 

Authorities sent text alerts to residents to warn them of the severe weather as emergency services rushed to clear floodwaters from homes. Some roads were also closed.

Workers are racing against time to remove more of a partially collapsed bridge in the eastern German city of Dresden as river levels rose ahead of expected flooding. 

Another section of the partially collapsed Carolabrücke bridge in Dresden came down early Friday during controlled demolition work. 

Engineers began demolishing the damaged section on Thursday night to prevent further danger and prepare for bad weather ahead. 

The Elbe is expected to flood on Sunday due to heavy rain forecast for the neighboring Czech Republic.

The German state of Saxony, where Dresden is located, is also bracing for continuous rainfall in eastern areas. Flood warnings have been issued for nearby rivers such as the Spree and Lausitzer Neisse.

More than 60,000 Czech households have been left without power after severe storms, according to the CTK news agency. 

The northwestern administrative region of Usti nad Labem, which borders Germany, was hardest hit, with more than 20,000 homes were temporarily without power after trees fell on power lines in the strong winds. 

Railway services were also affected by the storms, with fallen trees blocking several railway links.

Flooding was reported in the Czech Republic and neighboring Poland on Saturday morning after heavy rainfall overnight. Some areas have received between 50 and 110 liters of rain per square meter since Friday.

Heavy rains in the Czech Republic caused the water level of the Elbe river to rise. Authorities issued a third flood alert for about 20 rivers and streams, Czech news agency CTK reported. 

The village of Mikulovice near the Polish border was flooded in the early morning, according to footage posted by Czech television on the social media platform X. 

Across the border in southwestern Poland, the Biala Glucholaska river overflowed its banks in the Opole region. About 400 residents of the village of Glucholazy had to be evacuated. 

Interior Minister Tomasz Simoniak visited the scene and posted pictures of the rescue efforts on X. He said about 100 firefighters and 60 police officers had been deployed to the village. 

Ahead of storms reaching Central Europe, some experts have warned the rainfall could trigger the flood of the century.

 "We have to be ready for the worst case scenarios," Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said. "A tough weekend is ahead of us."

The Czech authorities have already put up metal barriers or protective walls made of sandbags, while water has been released from dams to make room in the reservoirs.

Residents in vulnerable areas have been warned to prepare for possible evacuations. Some public events scheduled for the weekend have been canceled at the request of authorities. This includes soccer matches in the top two leagues. 

Czechs were also urged to stay out of parks and forests, as high winds of up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour were forecast.

In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk traveled Friday to the southwestern Polish city of Wroclaw, where flooding is forecast. Authorities urged residents to stock up on food and prepare for power outages by charging batteries.

 "There is no reason to panic, but there is a reason to be fully mobilized," Tusk said.

The Alpine nation of Austria has already reported rising water levels following snow and rain in northeast parts of the country.

Meanwhile, the German Weather Service warned of heavy precipitation across much of Germany, including the Alps. Heavy snow and strong winds are expected at higher elevations.

dh/dj (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)