EU chief visits flood-stricken region in Europe and pledges billions in swift aid

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European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday pledged billions of euros for flood recovery for Central European countries that suffered enormous damage to infrastructure and housing during the current flooding that has claimed 24 lives in the region.

Ms. von der Leyen paid a quick visit to flood-damaged region in southeastern Poland and met with the government heads of the affected countries – Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

She said funds will be quickly available for repair from the EU’s solidarity fund, as well as €10-billion from what is called the cohesion fund for the most urgent repairs. She said no contribution from individual bloc countries would be required for the money to be released, and stressed that in this crisis, swift action was required.

“Here we say it’s 100-per-cent European money, no co-financing,” Ms. von der Leyen told a news briefing. “These are extraordinary times, and extraordinary times need extraordinary measures. "

A massive flood wave has been moving across Central Europe and threatening new areas. Heavy rains also caused flooding and evacuation of some 1,000 people in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. In Central Europe, the receding waters revealed the scale of the destruction caused by exceptionally heavy rains that began a week ago.

Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said one more person was reported killed on Thursday in the country’s hard-hit northeast, bringing the death toll there to five. There were also seven deaths each in Poland and Romania, and five in Austria – with the overall death toll in the affected countries now at 24.

Authorities deployed troops to help. In the northeastern Czech Republic, soldiers joined firefighters and other emergency crews to help with the recovery efforts. Army helicopters distributed humanitarian aid while soldiers were building temporary bridges in place of those swept away.

Some 400 people remained in evacuation centres in the regional capital of Ostrava, unable to return home. In the southwest, near the border with Austria, the water level of the Luznice River reached an extreme level but the evacuation of 1,000 people in the town of Veseli nad Luznici was not necessary for the moment, officials said.

Cleanup efforts were also under way in Austria, where flooding washed away roads and led to landslides and bridge damage. Firefighters and soldiers pumped water and mud out of houses and disposed of damaged furniture, broadcaster ORF quoted fire department spokesperson Klaus Stebal as saying.

The governor of Lower Austria province, Johanna Mikl-Leitner, said reconstruction was expected to take years, according to the Austria Press Agency.

The Vienna public transport company has had to pump almost a million litres of water since last weekend. Ten towns and areas were still inaccessible on Thursday, APA reported.

In Hungary, flood waters continued to rise Thursday as authorities closed roads and rail stations. Ferries along the Danube River halted. In the capital, Budapest, water spilled over the city’s lower quays and threatened to reach tram and metro lines. Some transport services were suspended.

Further upriver, in a region known as the Danube Bend, homes and restaurants near the riverbanks were inundated as officials and volunteers continued to place sandbags to reinforce levees.

Nearly 6,000 professionals, including members of Hungary’s water authority and military, were mobilized, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said at a news conference Thursday. Inmates from prisons were also mobilized to help fill sandbags, Mr. Orban said.

The Danube rose further and by Thursday morning stood at 771 centimetres, approaching the 891-centimetre record set during major flooding in 2013.

In southwestern Poland, the high waters reached the city of Wroclaw and a stretched-out wave was expected to take many hours, even days to pass, exerting pressure on the embankments.

The water level on the Oder River just before Wroclaw was 6.4 metres, some two metres above alarm levels but still significantly lower compared with the disastrous flooding in 1997.

In two most-affected towns – Stronie Slaskie and Ladek-Zdroj – tap water and power were restored, said General Michal Kamieniecki, who was put in charge of the recovery operations there after an emotional appeal to Prime Minister Donald Tusk for help the day before by a young woman identified only as Katarzyna.

As concerns mounted, Mr. Tusk invited Ms. von der Leyen to Wroclaw to see the situation firsthand. Government leaders from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria were also to be part of the visit.

In Italy, rivers flooded in three of the region’s provinces – Ravenna, Bologna and Forl-Cesena – as local mayors asked people to stay on the upper floors or leave their houses. Those areas had been already hit by devastating floods in May, 2023, when more than 20 rivers overflowed, killing 17 people and causing billions of euros in damages.

Italy’s vice-minister for transport and infrastructure, Galeazzo Bignami, said at a news conference Thursday that two people were reported missing in Bagnocavallo, in the Ravenna province.

At least 800 residents in Ravenna and almost 200 in Bologna province spent the night in shelters, schools and sports centres as local rivers overflowed.

Trains were suspended and schools closed while residents have been advised to avoid travel and work from home where possible.