Central Europe battles floodwaters, at least 20 killed

Budapest - Two weeks after a series of torrential rains caused floods in Central Europe, locals are struggling with a second wave of rising waters.

Euronews reports the Vistula River in Poland has burst its banks and flooded areas only now recovering from the previous emergency. The army is evacuating people, the report says. The number of people killed by the floodwaters has risen above 20 and is worst in the south of Poland. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in a town in the south east:

“The flooding here in Sandomierz is getting worse and worse. Part of the dam has broken. Once again thousands of people are exposed to high water. Our plans to dry the area and rebuild homes must be delayed.”

Fifteen hundred people had to leave their homes in the Slovakian town of Kosice, adding to thousands more in towns and villages in the past few days. Prime Minister Robert Fico said the floods were the worst in a century In neighbouring Hungary, over 2,000 people have been evacuated from areas hit by rising waters on one of Europe’s main waterways, the Danube, causing houses to collapse in one town. In the capital, Budapest, about 12,000 soldiers, police and firemen, as well as volunteers, are struggling to control the flooding. In Budapest, workers are building a 1,500-metre dam out of sandbags to protect an island in the river. Weather forecasters expect the rains to continue for most of the week.