Europe floods: Death toll rises as Storm Boris wreaks havoc

Thousands of people have been asked to leave their homes in the northeast of the Czech Republic following heavy rainfall in recent days.

As many as 10,000 people out of a population of around 56,000 in the city of Opava have been asked to move to safety .

“There’s no reason to wait,” Mayor Toma·Navratil told Czech public radio, saying that things were worse than during the inundation known as the “flood of the century” in 1997.

Further evacuations have taken place in Krnov, which was almost completely flooded, as well as Cesky Tesin, Ostrava and Bohumin. 

Raging waters in towns and villages in the Jeseniky mountains, including the local center of Jesenik, have also forced people out of their homes, with the military sometimes employing helicopters to take residents to safety.

On Monday, the small town of Litovel, nearly 200 km (124 miles) east of the capital,
Prague, also had several streets submerged, according to the CTK news agency. 

The mayor of the town on the Morava river, a Danube tributary, warned on social media that the water level was expected to rise further in the coming hours.  

“We have to focus on saving lives,” Prime Minister Petr Fiala told Czech public television on Sunday, warning that the worst “is not behind us yet.” His government was set to meet Monday to assess the damage in the country.