Storm Boris hits central and eastern Europe, killing eight

Heavy rain and strong winds seen in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia

Severely damaged and flooded streets in the spa town of Ladek-Zdroj, south-western Poland, after heavy rain across Eastern Europe. EPA

Pedestrians cross a flooded street in Opava, Czech Republic. AFP

Heavy rain bloated rivers in Glucholazy, south-western Poland, including the Biala Glucholaska, and flooded the town's streets. EPA

The flooded village of Rudawa, southern Poland. AFP

A Polish soldier carries a pet rabbit in its cage as they evacuate local residents in the village of Rudawa, southern Poland. AFP

Polish rescuers and soldiers evacuate local residents and their dog in the village of Rudawa, southern Poland. AFP

Polish rescuers and soldiers evacuate local residents in the village of Rudawa, southern Poland, on September 15, 2024. One person has drowned in Poland and an Austrian fireman has died responding to floods, authorities said, as Storm Boris lashed central and eastern Europe with torrential rains. Since Thursday, September 12, 2024, swathes of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia have been hit by high winds and unusually fierce rainfall. The storm had already caused the death of five people in Romania, and thousands have been evacuated from their homes across the continent. (Photo by Sergei GAPON / AFP)

Local residents evacuated by Polish rescuers in the village of Rudawa, southern Poland. AFP

Polish authorities shut the Gołkowice border crossing with the Czech Republic after a river flooded its banks. AFP

A destroyed car under a tree that fell due to strong winds at the Ružinov estate in Bratislava, Slovakia. AFP

A man wades through a flooded street in Glucholazy, southern Poland. AFP

The flooded streets in Glucholazy, southern Poland. AFP

One person drowned in Poland and an Austrian firefighter died responding to floods from Storm Boris on Sunday, bringing the toll from the storm to eight, with thousands evacuated across Europe.

Swathes of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia have been hit by high winds and unusually heavy rain since Thursday.

The storm has flooded entire neighbourhoods, shut down public transport and cut off electricity.

Romanians waded through armpit-high water to safety, Poles sought shelter in schools and Czechs hurriedly put up sand dykes in an effort to keep the water at bay.

In Romania, two bodies were found on Sunday after four people were reportedly killed earlier in the day and one person was declared missing.

Four people were reported missing in the Czech Republic.

“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.

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

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was ready to offer its support.

“Heartfelt solidarity with all affected by the devastating floods in Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia,” she wrote on social media.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Sunday morning that “we have the first confirmed death by drowning, in the Klodzko region” on the Czech border in the south-west of the country, which has been hit hardest.

About 1,600 people have been evacuated in Klodzko and Polish authorities have called in the army to support firefighters.

A firefighter in north-eastern Austria died in floods in the Lower Austria region, which has been classified as a natural disaster zone, regional Johanna Mikl-Leitner said on Sunday.

“For many residents, the upcoming hours will be the worst of their lives,” she said.

Emergency services had 5,000 calls overnight in Lower Austria, where flooding trapped many residents in their homes.

A motorway from western Austria to Vienna was shut just outside the capital, where four of five metro lines were out of service as the Wien river threatened to break its banks, local news outlets reported.

In Poland, authorities shut the Golkowice border crossing with the Czech Republic after a river flooded on Saturday. Several roads were closed and trains halted on the line linking the towns of Prudnik and Nysa.

In the Czech Republic, a dam in the south of the country burst its banks, flooding towns and villages downstream.

In the village of Velke Hostice, residents built a wall of sandbags 500 metres long in an effort to hold back the rising waters of the River Opava.

“If we don't stop the wave, it will flood the lower part of the village,” local hunter Jaroslav Lexa said.

On Saturday, four people died in floods in south-eastern Romania. The bodies were found in Galati in the south-east, which was the worst-affected region.

Another body was found in the same region on Sunday.

“We are again facing the effects of climate change, which are increasingly present on the European continent, with dramatic consequences,” Romania's President Klaus Iohannis said.

Hundreds of people have been rescued across the country, emergency services said, releasing a video of flooded homes in a village near the Danube river.

“This is a catastrophe of epic proportions,” said Emil Dragomir, mayor of Slobozia Conachi, a village in Galati, where he said 700 homes had been flooded.

Romania's Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu said more than 5,000 homes and 15,000 people were affected in the region.

In Austria, some areas of the Tyrol region were blanketed by up to a metre of snow – an exceptional situation for mid-September, which saw temperatures of 30°C last week.

Rail services were suspended in the east of the country early on Sunday.

Firefighters have been called out about 150 times in Vienna since Friday to clear roads blocked by storm debris and pump water from cellars, local media reported.

Neighbouring Slovakia has declared a state of emergency in the capital Bratislava.

Heavy rain was expected to continue until at least Monday in the Czech Republic and Poland.