Flooding Continues Across Europe, June 2013

Torrential rainfall and rising river levels have resulted in floods across Europe over the last few days. With so many rivers, countries, towns and cities involved, it’s hard to keep count of what has happened and which places are suffering. With that in mind, below is a quick overview of the flooding in Europe as of June 5th 2013.

Germany
The situation seems to be stabilising in Passau, Bavaria, although there is still plenty of flood water around, including in the streets. Also in Bavaria, Regensburg is still under a state of emergency and reports say that Deggendorf to be completely cut-off from the outside, with roads and transport networks flooded or flood damaged.

There are now concerns that the flooding will be moving further north. Communities along the river Elbe bracing themselves for floods. The city of Meissen on the Elbe has already suffered from flooding and the states of Thuringia, Sachsen and Sachsen-Anhalt in particular appear to be under threat of floods. The city of Dresden (which is in Saxony) is preparing for water levels 5m higher than normal.

There have been reports that about 15,000 people have been evacuated from their homes across Germany. Evacuations are now taking place in Dresden and Bitterfeld. The northern German states of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern are now making preparations for any possible flooding there.

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Austria
I reported yesterday that the provinces of Salzburg and Tyrol had suffered flooding over the last few days. On June 2nd a state of emergency was called in parts of Salzburg, and Upper and Lower Austria. One person was reported killed and another three were still missing on June 3rd.

The situation in Salzburg and Tyrol seems to be improving, as it is in Vorarlberg. However, road and transport systems are still affected, with many roads blocked as a result of floods of flood damage. River levels of the Danube, Inn and Enns are falling, although the area of the Danube near Hainburg is closed for shipping.

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Czech Republic
On 2nd June 2013, the Czech government declared a state of emergency state for 7 states of the country, including South Bohemia, Pilsen, Middle Bohemia, Liberecky, Kralovehradecky, Ustecky and the city of Prague. That amounts to about half the land area of the Czech Republic.

About 20,000 have been evacuated nationwide and rescue operations are continuing, and at least 7 have been reported dead as a result of the floods.

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Prague
Yesterday I asked the question: Can Prague stop the floods? Well it seems the new flood defences did work, at least in the central areas of the city and now river levels of the Vltava are falling. There was flooding in the suburbs – sadly there aren’t many (if any) flood defences here – but at least we didn’t see the large scale destruction of the historic centre that happened in 2002.

Hungary
Hungary is now bracing itself for flooding over the next few days. Under particular threat is Budapest, which lies on the River Danube. Reports state that flooding of the Danube is expected there on 9th June. Currently Hungary is experiencing flooding in the north west of the country, along the river Danube. About 100 people have already been evacuated.

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Slovakia
Slovakia is yet another country under threat of the River Danube high waters. The River Morava is also expected to flood. A state of emergency has been called in the capital city of Bratislava, and also Nitra and the Trnava region.

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Elsewhere in Europe
Southern Poland, Croatia and south west Serbia are also on flood alert, although the risk is currently not as high as in the countries mentioned above.

Away from the flooding in central Europe, there have also been heavy rains and high river levels in Norway (which experienced severe flooding in May 2013), and Sweden (in the northern regions).

In France, high river levels in the Adour basin and on the Rhine near Strasbourg were a cause for concern yesterday, and Lake Constance in Switzerland saw a rise in levels after heavy rain.

Source: BBC

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