Torrential downpours unleashed devastating floods in several central European countries, taking the death toll Thursday to at least 10 people amid extensive damage in eastern Czech Republic. The deluge also hit Romania, where four people were injured by lightning during a heavy storm north of Bucharest, with heavy flooding also reported in several regions of Austria, Germany and Poland.
Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer assured reporters in Prague that the situation was "under control" as the national security council met on Thursday. Fischer said the flood had claimed at least nine lives, including five drowned in rising floodwaters as rivers burst their banks, and several were still missing. Later on Thursday afternoon, the CTK news agency reported a 10th victim, a homeless man who had drowned in a brook near Novy Jicin in the east of the country.
The Czech government will earmark 54 million koruna (2.1 million euros, 2.9 million dollars) for the affected region where the floods closed many roads and railways and cut off power supplies to whole towns. The town of Novy Jicin, with population of 26,500, has declared a state of emergency. The victims include a 55-year-old woman who drowned in a flooded river near Novy Jicin on Wednesday night, and two brothers aged 50 and 55, who drowned when trying to save their mother in Jesenik nad Odrou, a local police spokeswoman said.
Across the border, Poland declared a flood alert after downpours that hit the south and north-east of the country during the night. In Austria, the situation remained critical in the eastern province of Burgenland, where fire brigades and rescuers worked hard on Thursday.