Budapest and Poland’s Wroclaw reinforce river banks in anticipation of more flooding

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Soldiers dropped sandbags from military helicopters to shore up river dams and evacuated residents as the worst flooding in years spread Tuesday to A large area of ​​Central Europe was devastated, killing and destroying homes..

Heavy flooding has affected much of the region in recent days, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria. At least 17 deaths have been reported in the flooding, which followed heavy rains across the region.

Other places are now bracing for flooding, including two of Central Europe’s gems: Budapest, the Hungarian capital on the Danube River, and Wroclaw, a city in southwestern Poland on the Oder River whose old town is a treasure trove of architectural treasures.

Hungarian Prime Minister’s Government viktor urban Germany deployed troops to reinforce barriers along the Danube, and thousands of volunteers helped fill sandbags in dozens of riverside settlements.

In Budapest, authorities closed the city’s lower docks, which are expected to be breached by high waters later Tuesday. The lower half of the city’s famous Margaret Island was also closed.

In Wroclaw, firefighters and soldiers spent the night using sandbags to reinforce river banks. The city’s zoo along the Oder River appealed for volunteers to fill sandbags on Tuesday morning.

“We and our animals would be very grateful for your help,” the zoo said in its appeal.

The city said it expected flooding to peak there around Friday, though some had predicted it would happen sooner. Donald Tusk She met with the crisis team early Tuesday morning and said there were conflicting forecasts from meteorologists.

Tusk’s government has declared a state of natural disaster in southern Poland.

South of Wroclaw, residents spent the night trying to save the town of Nysa, population 44,000, after the Nysa Kłodzka River burst its banks the day before. Mayor Kordian Kulbiarz said 2,000 “women, men, children and elderly people” turned out to try to save their town from the rising waters, forming a human chain and hauling sandbags to the riverbank.

“We did everything we could. This series of people fighting for Nisa was amazing. Thank you. We fought for Nisa. For our country. For our families. For our future,” Colbyarz wrote on Facebook.

Later on Tuesday, authorities in Nysa said the city centre had been saved from flooding.

In Bratislava, Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava’s deputy mayor for the environment, Jakub Mrva, said the Danube had reached its peak and would slowly recede. He said movable barriers had saved the historic centre, but there was still damage, including to tram lines.

“We also saw significant damage to the zoo, which was flooded, and there is relatively significant damage to the forests of Bratislava, where many trees died,” Marva told The Associated Press in an interview as he stood by the flooded banks of the Danube River in Bratislava.

In the Czech Republic, waters are beginning to recede in the two worst-hit areas in the northeast. The government has agreed to deploy 2,000 troops to help with clean-up efforts. Damage is expected to run into billions of euros.

The Czech government has also rushed to help local authorities organize regional elections on Friday and Saturday, with many schools and other buildings used as polling stations badly damaged. However, the evacuation of around 1,000 people in the town of Vesely nad Loznice may have to be postponed, as the water has not yet reached critical levels.

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Associated Press writers Justin Spike in Budapest, Hungary, Karel Janicek in Prague, and photographer Tomas Hrivnak in Bratislava, Slovakia, contributed to this report.