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Central Europe races against time as flood zones move

Volunteers and emergency situation personnel overcame the night to strengthen the Polish city of Wroclaw versus approaching flood waters, while Hungary opened a dam as the prime minister cautioned a vital. duration was approaching.

The worst floods to strike central Europe in at least 2. years have left a trail of destruction from Romania to Poland,. spreading mud and debris in the areas, destroying bridges,. immersing vehicles and leaving authorities and householders with a. bill for damages that will run into billions of dollars.

A lot happened this evening, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. told a crisis meeting in Wroclaw. We will need urgent. details ... from those locations that got high water.

Lines of individuals in Wroclaw passed sandbags to fortify river. banks and to secure structures. Authorities anticipate waters to. peak in Wroclaw on Thursday.

Towns to the south of Wroclaw, such as Lewin Brzeski, have. currently felt the complete may of the floods, forcing locals to. learn the streets in waist-high water or seek refuge on. the roofing systems of the entryways to blocks of flats.

Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski informed the crisis. conference that 2 billion zlotys ($ 521 million) in funds had actually been. secured for dealing with the effects of the floods.

Tusk said there had actually been reports of skyrocketing rates for numerous. products in flood-hit areas and he did not dismiss the. introduction of cost controls.

He also stated the government would pay instalments of the. mortgages of people whose houses had actually been flooded for a year.

CRITICAL CIRCUMSTANCE

In Hungary, authorities opened a dam in the country's. northwest to carry water from the Lajta river into an. emergency situation reservoir in a bid to safeguard the city of. Mosonmagyarovar.

The water was permitted to flow onto farming land.

In the capital Budapest, the Danube is still expected to. peak around or slightly above 8.5 metres, likely on Friday or. Saturday.

Due to heavy rains and floods, the circumstance is important. all across Central Europe, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor. Orban stated in a post on social media platform X late on Tuesday.

According to the most recent projections, the turning point for. Hungary will start tomorrow (Wednesday), so flood defense is. going complete steam ahead.

Drone video footage from Tuesday showed the Hungarian town of. Venek, near Gyor in the north of the country, immersed under. water.

I believe it's sort of connected to the climate change. due to the fact that it's an abrupt flood, stated 51 year-old resident Georg. Bercsanyi.

It was drizzling for 4 days in the area, particularly around. Vienna in Austria. So that's why we have this high water level. now.

In the Czech Republic, water levels were primarily receding,. but rivers were still peaking in some parts of southern Bohemia.

In the worst-hit locations, residents and emergency services. were cleaning up part of the train line type Prague to. Ostrava, which is likewise on the Vienna-Warsaw path, and was still. out of operation, as well as some secondary rail lines and. roads.

Financing Minister Zbynek Stanjura said on Tuesday he would. like parliament to authorize an amendment to the budget plan to make. space for flood relief, despite the fact that the cost of the damage is. still not known. Stanjura stated it could possibly be in the order. of $4 billion.

Mayors of some Czech towns in the Opava river area demanded. that this weekend's elections for regional assemblies and one. third of the upper home of parliament be held off due to a. lack of power and flooding of polling stations.

However, the government has actually decided to continue with the. vote, stating that makeshift ballot stations and other improvised. options would be used.

(source: Reuters)