On Thursday, Central Europe is preparing for the worst floods in recent decades due to the passage of Cyclone Boris, which is expected this weekend. According to Czech and Polish meteorologists, in some areas of their countries up to 400 liters of rain per square meter could fall in the next four days, and in Austria and Slovakia around 200 liters.
Cultural events scheduled for this weekend have been canceled in those four countries due to the announced passage of the cyclone. Retentions for receiving water, primarily near the dams, were emptied so that they could receive so much water. In Poland, weather alerts have been announced for the south of the country, above all the cities on the Oder such as Wroclaw and Opole.
“There is a real risk of local flooding on Friday and Sunday,” warned Polish meteorologists.
In Wrocław, which has a population of 675,000, the municipality established a crisis headquarters. According to the Czech Environment Minister Petar Hladik, the situation in the country “could be similar to that of 1997 and 2002.”
The floods of 1997 hit Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. 50 people died and there were several billion US dollars in damage. It is precisely in that region that the worst precipitation is expected this time as well. In 2002, floods hit the west of the country, claiming 17 lives and causing even more damage than in 1997.
Cities in Moravia erected flood barriers and prepared sandbags in anticipation of the storm, which will be accompanied by winds of up to 100 kilometers per hour. Dozens of cultural events in the region have been cancelled, including the annual wine festival in Znojmo, which attracts tens of thousands of visitors.
The Roman festival in Karnuntum in Austria was also cancelled. According to Austrian television “ORF”, the water level of the Danube could rise to levels not seen for five to ten years. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehamer said that the army is ready to deploy up to a thousand soldiers if necessary. The Slovak army and volunteer firefighters are also on alert.
The precipitation could be greater than that which hit central Europe in 2013, which was then considered the worst in a thousand years, warns the Slovakian meteorological service “imeteo.sk”. With the movement of the cold wave over Europe to the east, the first snow fell on the Slovenian Kredarica. The storm caused the most problems on the Slovenian coast. In Slovenian Istria, more rain fell in just a few hours than usually falls during the entire summer, reports “24Sata“.
