Central Europe braces for heavy rains and flooding

FRANCE 24 English

Visit our website: http://www.france24.com  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en

Transcript

00:00This fast motion video of the Reka River in Slovenia illustrates the flooding across Central

00:06Europe since Thursday. In four days, some areas in Slovenia, Slovakia, Austria, the Czech Republic,

00:14Poland, Romania and the south of Germany are expected to see the equivalent of four months

00:20of rain. Firefighters and residents worked fast to slow down and limit the flooding generated

00:27by Cyclone Boris. The fire brigades are already preparing for the flood of the century,

00:35which is what has been forecast. As the ground was saturated,

00:40sidewalks looked like rivers. The water flooded homes and various buildings.

00:49What can I say? I'm so sad. We renovated our home three years ago and now we're flooded again.

00:55A natural catastrophe reminiscent of the ones that hit the region some 20 years ago,

01:03causing massive destruction. Buildings collapsed. In Prague, the metro system remained flooded for

01:09months. Flooding killed more than 100 people in 1997 and again more than 100 people in 2002.

01:19But authorities say that they are better prepared. Water management authorities emptied

01:25reservoirs to leave room for the floodwater. High capacity pumps are also available as

01:31rain continues to pour down with a peak on Saturday.

Category

Transcript

Recommended