A major flood in central Europe has spread this Tuesday as river water levels rose to dangerous levels, forcing large-scale evacuations and untold property damage. Low-lying areas and cities in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic are underwater as thousands flee for shelter.
Prague, Vienna, Budapest, and Dresden, among other historic European cities, are reported to be largely submerged. In some areas extreme flooding has made evacuation only possible via helicopter or motor raft.
While casualties are still been tallied, official statements from the Czech Republic have confirmed seven deaths. Czech officials have also stated that 10,000 Czech citizens have been evacuated from areas hit hardest by flood waters. Germany and Austria each report two deaths each in addition to several missing and hundreds evacuated.
Towns in the Bavaria region where the Danube River joins with two tributary rivers were among the first to experience the worst of the flooding. 500-year-old water level records were reported to have been broken at the height of the flood in the historic Bavarian city of Passau.
The central European flooding is attributed to the high volume of rain experienced in the region, particularly in Austria where average rainfall, for the month, was met and exceeded within the first two days of June.
Rivers hit with rising waters in central Europe, including the Danube, are used frequently as important avenues of trade and goods transport. The impact of the flood on business and economics are expected to have significant long-term effects on communities who will already be dealing with devastating property loss and damage.
The floods in central Europe are considered the worst since at least 2002, when similar floods inundated major cities like Prague and forced closure of metro systems. Many cities experienced significant damage to historical districts and buildings in those floods and similar loss is expected.
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