Europe weather chaos - live: Italy braces for Storm Boris flooding as Portugal wildfires blaze and deaths rise
Thousands of firefighters in Portugal are battling wildfires as catastrophic central Europe floods are killing residents
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Extreme weather is sweeping across Europe with catastrophic flooding caused by Storm Boris that may reach Italy while five thousand firefighters are struggling to contain wildfires in Portugal.
Hot, dry conditions behind the fire outbreaks in Portugal came while downpours were concurrently causing flooding in central Europe.
Heavy rain is expected over much of Italy over the next few days, with the region of Emilia-Romagna and Lazio under yellow weather alerts.
Six people have died, including four firefighters, in northern Portugal and an unknown number of people have been forced to flee their homes.
The death toll from the severe floods in central Europe, which began over the weekend, rose to at least 21 on Tuesday, with seven confirmed fatalities in Romania. Poland, Austria, and the Czech Republic were also among the hardest hit.
Some 100 fires in Portugal have been reported by national authorities causing more than 50 people to be injured.
Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, declared a state of natural disaster across the affected region of southern Poland.
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Death toll rises across central Europe as devastating flooding sweeps region
Weather warnings in place across Italy
The Italian Meteorological Service has issued warnings for heavy rainfall, strong winds and intense storms from the early hours of this morning, lasting until Thursday.
The alerts stretch from northern coast of Emilia-Romagna to the south of the country.
Poland’s historic city readies buses for possible evacuations
The city of Wroclaw has readied buses for possible evacuations and dropped sandbags from military helicopters to reinforce river embankments amid flooding fears.
The city said it expected the flood wave to peak there around Friday, though some had predicted that would happen sooner.
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk met with a crisis team early Tuesday and said there are contradictory forecasts from meteorologists.
Portugal’s prime minister says ‘very difficult times ahead'
Portugal’s prime minister, Luís Montenegro, cancelled all of his engagements today in response to the fires and said the country faced “some very difficult times over the next few days”.
An extreme fire warning has been extended until Thursday night.
Warsaw Zoo appeals for items to protect animals
Warsaw’s Zoo has made a desperate appeal to help its animals after Storm Boris floods ravaged the city.
In a post on Facebook, they said “defenseless creatures’ fate is fully dependent on us - people.” They will be arranging collections at the town hall and from the Gdanski Bridge and have requested people bring wet and dry food, clean blankets and big towels.
21 killed in flooding across Central Europe
Twenty-one people have been killed across Poland, Hungary, Romania and Austria as Storm Boris continues to rip through the region.
Flooding killed seven people in Romania, where waters have receded since the weekend, six in Poland, five in Austria, and three in the Czech Republic. Tens of thousands of Czech and Polish households were still without power or fresh water.
Three firefighters dead in Portugal while heading to a job
Three firefighters from the Vila Nova de Oliveirinha, Tábua, fire brigade died on Tuesday as they were responding to a call of a fire in that area, the mayor has said.
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, expressed his “deep dismay” at the deaths and sent his condolences to their families.
A statement published on the Portuguese Presidency’s website said: “The President of the Republic is deeply dismayed by the accident involving a fire engine, causing the death of three firefighters, and expresses his deepest condolences to their families, as well as to the Oliveirinha Fire Department.”
81-year-old woman dies in Austria
Details are beginning to emerge about some of the 19 people who have been killed by the floods.
An 81-year-old woman from Würmla in Austria is the fifth person to die in the current flooding in Lower Austria.
According to chief inspector Johann Baumschlager she died in her flooded house and her body was discovered by emergency services on Tuesday morning.
Football league declares minute of silence for fire victims
The Portuguese Professional Football League (LPFP) has declared a minute of silence in games at the weekend in solidarity with the victims of the fires.
A statement said: “The LPFP expresses all the solidarity of professional football towards all those who are being, in some way, affected by this tragedy, also praising the tireless efforts of firefighters, security forces and all the volunteers who have worked hard to combat this scourge.”
The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) will also hold a minute of silence at all of its competition matches from today until Sunday also in memory of the victims of the fires.
65 fires still raging
The national commander of emergency and civil protection André Fernandes said that 105 incidents were recorded from midnight to 12:30 and that 65 fires were still raging.
A total of 5,321 operators, with the support of 1,629 vehicles and 24 aerial resources, are involved in fighting the fires in Portugal.
Some of the roads closed include Motorways 1 (A1) in Aveiro Sul and Estarreja, the A13 in Coimbra, the Complementary Itinerary 2 (IC2) with the A25 junction, the A24 in Castro Daire and Vila Pouca de Aguiar and the A43 and A41 junction in Gondomar.
Budapest and Poland’s Wroclaw reinforce river banks ahead of more flooding
Soldiers dropped sandbags from military helicopters to reinforce river embankments and evacuated residents as the worst flooding in years spread Tuesday to a broad swath of Central Europe, taking lives and destroying homes.
Other places are now bracing for the flood waves, including two Central European gems: Budapest, the Hungarian capital on the Danube River, and Wroclaw, a city in southwestern Poland on the Oder River, its old town filled with architectural treasures.
Hungary’s government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán deployed soldiers to reinforce barriers along the Danube, and thousands of volunteers assisted in filling sandbags in dozens of riverside settlements.
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