The severe storms and floods that have hit Eastern Europe have so far left five deadthe last one this Sunday in the southwest of Poland.
One person died and nearly 2,000 people were evacuated in southwestern Poland due to the storm that is hitting central Europe and causing severe flooding in Lower Silesia and Opole, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk reported on Sunday.
“In the Kłodzko region (in Lower Silesia, near the Czech Republic), the first death by drowning has been confirmed,” the liberal politician said at a press conference.
The man is from the town of Krosnowice, but emergency services cannot access the town because it is flooded, according to local police.
The president, who visited Kłodzko, explained that 1,600 residents had to be evacuated there, but warned that there would be “many other evacuations” throughout the day.
Tusk stressed that ““The situation remains very dramatic in many places.”
“The most dramatic is in the Kłodzko Valley, that is, Stronie Śląskie and Lądek,” he added.
The Prime Minister reiterated his call to residents not to underestimate the threat and not to refuse to evacuate.
He stressed that delaying the evacuation could pose a danger not only to citizens, but also to the services that would have to carry out the evacuation later, in much more difficult conditions.
In the province of Opole, also near the Czech RepublicThe situation is also very difficult, according to the authorities, who reported flooding in Glucholazy due to the overflowing of a river.
The Institute of Meteorology and Water Management predicts total precipitation of up to 150 litres per square metre in the provinces of Lower Silesia, Opole, Silesia and Lesser Poland (near Slovakia) until Sunday.
Four dead in Romania
The strong storm has left Romania four dead and more than five thousand homes affected due to flooding, as authorities declared a state of emergency in six counties across the country, the Romanian government reported on Saturday.
“So far, we have confirmed four victims, found in their homes. Some were immobilized in their beds and others were found in the courtyards of their homes,” Romanian Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu said in a telephone interview with the Digi24 network.
Predoiu denied reports of a fifth victim, saying that a person swept away by the waters had already died two days before the floods.
The victims were residents of the municipalities of Pechea, Draguseni, Costache Negri and Corod, located in the south-eastern region of Galati, where they were swept away by the water currents.
