Central Europe flooding leaves dozen dead or missing

(Vatican Radio) Thousands of people have been evacuated in Central and Eastern Europe where flooding and heavy rainfall has left at least a dozen people dead or missing.


Rescue workers and soldiers desperately tried overnight to protect millions of people in especially Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic, but the raging water still managed to inundate areas across the region.


Czech Prime Minister Peter Petr Necas even declared a state of emergency for most of the nation, as swollen rivers caused by days of heavy rain threatened Prague's historic centre and forced evacuations from low-lying areas.


Rescue workers also rushed to evacuate patients from Prague's Francis Hospital. Animals, including even tigers, were also evacuated from the Prague Zoo. "We are evacuating the animals as we are afraid that the water will drown the animals," explained Zoo Director Jaroslav Simek.


However help came too late for at least two Czechs who died, while several others remained missing.


DROWNED ANIMALS

Residents recalled floods in 2002 that killed 17 people, forced tens of thousands from their homes, drowned animals of the city's Zoo and caused several billion dollars of damage across Prague alone.

Following that disaster, the Czech government spent $150 million to install an anti-flooding system, but it remained unclear Sunday, June 2, whether enough had been done to prevent another catastrophe.

At least two people also remained missing in Germany following a 48-hour downpour that hit record levels in parts of the south and east where thousands were evacuated.


Authorities in Passau said the Danube river rose to nearly 11 meters and thirty centimetres, its highest June level in more than a century.


Some German rescue workers struggle to cope with the situation. "It is of course a serious situation. While rainfall eased somewhat, we have to see what will happen next as we are expecting higher water levels," one of them said.

RESCUEWORKER DIES

In neighbouring Austria at least one rescue worker died and two were reported missing, officials said, following landslides triggered by heavy rains that forced several hundred people from their homes.


Switzerland was also struggling with heavy rainfall and flooding.


There are now concerns about Hungary, where the Danube river has already flooded some areas in the capital Budapest, including an underground parking system near Parliament, with city's lower embankment expected to be inundated Tuesday.


It comes at a time of concerns about ailing infrastructure in especially cash-strapped Eastern Europe, which has seen heavy flooding in the past. Floods along with droughts and forest fires – all of which are cross-border hazards – are among the main risks for especially South Eastern Europe, said the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) earlier this month.

The UNISDR has suggested that "climate change and variations could lead to more frequent and severe disasters related to weather, water and climate in the region." Yet some sceptical scientists and politicians, including former Czech President Vaclav Klaus, have raised doubts about the evidence for global warming.

Listen to Stefan Bos' report: