PRAGUE (AP) — Central European countries on Friday braced for severe flooding expected to hit the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Germany, Slovakia and Hungary this weekend.
Czech authorities erected metal barriers or protective walls made of sandbags, while water was released from dams to make room in reservoirs. Residents have been warned to prepare for possible evacuations.
At the request of the authorities, several public events scheduled for the weekend have been cancelled across the country, including football matches in the top two divisions.
“We have to be prepared for the worst-case scenarios,” Prime Minister Petr Fiala said after a meeting of his government’s central crisis committee. “We have a tough weekend ahead of us.”
Meteorologists say a low pressure area moving from northern Italy towards the Czech Republic is expected to bring heavy rainfall to most of the Czech Republic, including the capital and the border areas with Austria and Germany to the south and Poland to the north.
Central Europeans in particular are wary, as some experts compare this weekend’s weather forecast to the devastating floods that struck the region in 1997, which some have called the flood of the century.
More than 100 people died in the floods 27 years ago, including 50 in eastern Czechia, where large parts of the country were submerged.
The heaviest rainfall was forecast for the eastern half of the country, particularly in the Jeseniky Mountains. The second largest city, Brno, located in the east of the Czech Republic, is one of the places where flood protection works have not yet been completed, unlike Prague.
Czechs were asked to avoid going to parks and forests as wind gusts of up to 100 kilometres per hour were forecast.
In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk traveled to the southwestern Polish city of Wrocław on Friday, where flooding is forecast. Authorities urged residents to stock up on food and prepare for power outages by charging power banks.
Tusk said during a meeting with firefighters and other emergency workers that the forecasts were “not extremely alarming.”
“There is no reason to panic, but there is a reason to be fully mobilised,” the Prime Minister stressed.
The German Meteorological Service has warned of heavy precipitation in large parts of the country, including the Alps. Heavy snowfall and strong winds are expected at higher altitudes.
The Alpine country of Austria is also preparing for heavy rainfall and a huge cold front that is expected to bring snow to higher areas.
The weather change came after a warm start to September in the region. Scientists recorded the Earth’s temperature warmest summer ever recordedbreaking a record set just a year ago.
A warmer atmosphere, caused by human-induced climate change, can lead to heavier rainfall.
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Associated Press journalist Vanessa Gera contributed from Warsaw, Poland.