Death toll rises as Storm Boris lashes central, eastern Europe

One person has drowned in Poland, two people have died due to floods in Romania and an Austrian fireman has died responding to the floods, as Storm Boris lashes central and eastern Europe with torrential rains.

Sunday’s deaths bring the overall toll from the storm to eight, with thousands evacuated across the continent hit by days of downpours and rivers bursting their banks.

Since Thursday, swathes of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia have been hit by high winds and unusually heavy rainfall.

More rain and strong winds are forecast until at least Monday.

The rains have flooded streets and submerged entire neighbourhoods in some places, while shutting down public transport and electricity in others.

Some areas of Austria’s Tyrol region were also blanketed by up to a metre (three feet) of snow – an exceptional situation for mid-September, which saw temperatures of up to 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) last week.

‘Worst hours of our lives’

In Romania, two people were confirmed dead on Sunday, after four people were reported killed on Saturday. Officials said more than 5,000 households and 15,000 people were affected.

“The water came into the house, it destroyed the walls, everything,” Sofia Basalic, 60, a resident of Romania’s village of Pechea, in the hard-hit region of Galati, told AFP news agency.

“It took the chickens, the rabbits, everything. It took the oven, the washing machine, the refrigerator. I have nothing left,” she said.

Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis on Sunday said the region is once again “facing the effects of climate change, which are increasingly present on the European continent, with dramatic consequences”.