The Boris storm that is currently hitting Central Europe has already caused eight deaths , but according to experts, the worst is yet to come.

In Romania , the country most affected, six people have been confirmed dead and one is missing . Another person drowned in Poland and a firefighter was killed in Austria while trying to provide assistance. And as the hours pass, the number of missing and displaced people increases.

The other countries that have been struggling with water for days, with almost incessant rain and rivers in flood, are the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary . Many areas of transport and services are down, including electricity.

The images of the floods show entire neighborhoods inundated, streets submerged by water, people with water up to their armpits, improvised dams to stop the rising watercourses, people seeking shelter. The Danube and its tributaries are time bombs of water and authorities across Europe are scrambling to reinforce the banks with the fear of a flood greater than that of 2013, the worst in 500 years that caused dozens of deaths and missing people and tens of thousands of displaced people.

“We are again facing the effects of climate change, which are increasingly present on the European continent, with dramatic consequences,” Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said, while the mayor of the city with the most victims, Galati, spoke of a “catastrophe of epic proportions.” Romania’s Interior Minister said that more than 6,000 families and 15,000 people in the region had been affected.

In Austria, where the firefighter died, a meter of snow fell in some areas of Tyrol, the most in September, a month in which until a few days ago temperatures reached 30 degrees even in the mountains. In Poland, a dam collapsed and another overflowed last night: the police began evacuating residents stranded in the area using a helicopter. The army was mobilized everywhere. In the Czech Republic, 4 people are missing. In neighboring Slovakia, a state of emergency was declared in the capital Bratislava. Hungary has mobilized 17,000 soldiers to work to reinforce the embankments in an attempt to prevent the worst. Volunteers have been advised to move only upon express request, and the population is advised to stay at home.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed her "solidarity with all those affected by the devastating floods" in a message on X and said that "the EU stands ready to provide support".

(Online Union)

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