"If you were here, you would cry instantly"

The BBC reports that in the Czech Republic, one person drowned in a stream near the town of Bruntal in the northeast of the country, while seven people are still missing.

Four have been confirmed dead in Poland, although an interior ministry spokesman said the exact cause of death for all was yet to be determined.

In Austria, two people in their 70s and 80s died in the northeast of the country. One of them, a resident of the town of Hebersdorf, seems to have been trying to pump water out of the apartment when he drowned, reports Austrian media.

Eight deaths were also recorded over the weekend in Poland, Romania and Austria, where one firefighter died during a rescue operation.

Extreme rainfall is becoming more frequent in Europe, as well as in most of the world, due to climate change. Although conditions have stabilized in some parts of central Europe, other regions are preparing for possible danger.

In Slovakia, the Danube has flooded in the Old Town of the capital Bratislava, and local media reports that the water level has exceeded nine meters and is expected to rise further.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wrote on X platform that he has postponed all international obligations "due to extreme weather conditions and floods in Hungary".

The most precipitation was in the Czech Republic. In the northeastern town of Jeseník, 473 millimeters fell as of Thursday morning - five times the average rainfall for a month.

The Czech capital, Prague, does not want to take any chances after the floods that devastated the city two decades ago. Images of flooded subway stations in 2002, evacuation of residents in rubber boats, and drowning elephants in the Prague Zoo are etched in local memory.

A little before ten o'clock on Friday, a heavy steel rampart, one meter thick, closed the so-called Devil's Canal or Chertovka, which cuts through the historic district of Mala Strana in Prague, returning to the Vltava River. Chertovka is part of a national flood defense network that officials say cost more than a billion euros to prevent catastrophic damage in 1997 and 2002.

In Prague, they hope to avoid the worst floods. This weekend, attention was focused on the central and eastern parts of the country, especially North Moravia, where 50 people lost their lives in 1997.

In the Austrian town of St. Polten, more rain fell in four days than in the entire wettest autumn on record, in 1950.

Chancellor Karl Nehammer said the armed forces had been deployed to help regions affected by the storm.

The Austrian Ministry of Climate announced that 300 million euros have been earmarked for recovery.

Villages and town were submerged in eastern Romania. Emil Dragomir, mayor of Slobozia Conachi, told media that the flooding had had a devastating impact of "epic proportions".

"If you were here, you would cry instantly, because people are desperate, their whole lives' work is gone, there were people who were left with just the clothes they had on", he said.

In Poland, thousands of people were evacuated, including the staff and patients of the hospital in the city of Nysa. Roads are largely impassable and rail traffic is suspended in many parts of the country.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that one billion zlotys, which is more than 200 million euros, will be allocated for flood victims. He added that Poland will apply for aid from EU funds.

Poland declared a state of natural disaster on Monday to make it easier to respond to emergency situations and get EU funds.

On Monday morning, the mayor of Paczków in south-west Poland appealed to residents to evacuate after water began overflowing in a nearby reservoir, endangering the town.

In other parts of Poland, however, water levels are now falling, according to local officials.