Europe's weather crisis eased on Thursday as fires were put out in Portugal and flood waters receded in central Europe, but the death toll rose in Romania and Austria after heavy rains. Posted on 08/25/2005 10:01:46 PM PDT by M. Espinola
Europe's weather crisis eased on Thursday as fires were put out in Portugal and flood waters receded in central Europe, but the death toll rose in Romania and Austria after heavy rains.
Since June, the flooding in central and eastern Europe has caused 103 deaths, while fires in drought-stricken Portugal, Spain and France killed 37, according to figures compiled by news agency AFP.
Portuguese firefighters said on Thursday they had brought under control all blazes that have ravaged the centre and north of the country over the past two weeks, thanks to the arrival of cooler weather.
Across the country, 850 firefighters backed by 600 soldiers were still monitoring the sites of recent blazes, however, to guard against flare-ups, the civil protection agency said in a statement.
Wildfires have killed 15 people, including 10 firefighters, destroyed more than 100 homes and charred at least 180 000ha of land since the start of the year.
Meanwhile, flood waters receded across central and eastern Europe, but the death toll continued to rise in Romania and Austria.
"Unfortunately, we are expecting the number of victims to rise hour by hour," Romanian Interior Minister Vasile Blaga said at a news conference on Thursday.
"Our priority is the safety of residents. For that reason, we have deployed nearly 10 000 military troops and police to help in rescue operations," Blaga said.
Thirteen people have died in Romania in the past three days and three more are missing, including a four-year-old girl.
The latest victims brought the toll from extreme weather in Romania to 66 since the beginning of this year, Braga said.
Most victims have been elderly people swept away by the currents of raging rivers.
Detailing the extent of the disaster, Blaga said nearly 2 000 people have been evacuated from their homes over the past two weeks and 400 houses have been swept away by flood waters. Damage is estimated at more than €1,5-billion.
In Austria, an 81-year-old man on Thursday became the fourth victim in three days of heavy flooding, as 14 army helicopters were airlifting food and medicine to about 5 000 stranded tourists in Paznauntal, in the western province of Tyrol.
The latest victim was driving his car when he veered into the raging currents of the Litz River in the western province of Vorarlberg.
In Switzerland, authorities continued to evacuate residents from flood-stricken areas on Thursday as rescue workers battled to remove debris that threatened dams and bridges even as the waters subsided.
Six people were dead or missing after four days of flooding in Switzerland's north, centre and east.
In the capital, Bern, authorities continued to evacuate residents by boat and helicopter from a district alongside the Aare River, where lower floors were under water.
Rail traffic remained erratic in many central and eastern regions.
Meanwhile, Germany registered its first victim from heavy rains when a 28-year-old man was swept into the water after he and two friends went out in a rubber dinghy on a raging river near the southern Bavarian city of Rosenheim on Wednesday evening, according to the police.
On Thursday, rivers that rose to record levels earlier in the week continued to recede or remained below the hazardous heights that had been expected, authorities said.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder was later on Thursday scheduled to survey the damage in Augsburg, which sits on the Lech river, a tributary of the Danube that also flooded.
The water levels also subsided in Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia, all affected by the flooding in the past week, as well as in Bulgaria, where 26 have died in the heavy rains since June. -- Sapa-AFP
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Prayer bump
Dunno about mainland Europe but in the UK flood would normally be covered by a household building insurance policy.
However, insurers are increasingly excluding flood damage for houses in flood-prone areas, which is a severe problem for homeowners in large parts of the country.
Just dam - the stupid rivers.
"My home for 10 years will always have a special place in my heart no matter what stupid political ideas many European people have. May G-d save those in danger."
I'm sure politics is the furthest thing from these folk's minds right now. I went through a flood some years ago here in California. They are worse than earthquakes in that floods go on and on while quakes happen all at once. Either way you pray only that people are safe.
I hope they are wearing LanceStrong rubber bands.
A lot of people are going to be in need of assistance, in S. Florida as well.
Shouldn't that one read, "Residents move fireman to safety?"
I can see your point, but he is the captian directing the voyage from atop his ship :)
You're welcome.
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