Residents of several areas of Poland and the Czech Republic have been evacuated, while citizens from other areas in central Europe have begun cleaning up after the worst floods in two decades left a trail of destruction and a rising death toll.
Border areas between the Czech Republic and Poland were hit hard over the weekend as heavy rain since last Sunday and surging water levels collapsed some bridges, forced evacuations and damaged cars and homes.
At least 17 people have died in floods from Romania to Poland in the past few days.
On Monday afternoon, the mayor of Nysa, a city of more than 40.000 in southern Poland, urged residents to evacuate immediately after the nearby coastline was damaged.
Photo: Consequences of floods throughout the Czech Republic
In the northeastern Czech city of Ostrava, a broken barrier on the Odra River at its confluence with the Opava River caused flooding in the city's industrial area, including the BorsodChem chemical plant, the OKK Koksovni coking plant, and others. Hundreds of people were evacuated from several residential areas.
"Apocalypse"
The Polish government declared a state of natural disaster in the affected areas and said it had set aside one billion zlotys ($260 million) to help victims.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he is in contact with the leaders of other affected countries and will ask the European Union for financial assistance.
Szimon Kzisztan, from the town of Londek-Zdroj, described the losses from the floods as "unimaginable".
"It's a city like in the apocalypse... It's a ghost town," he said.
Photo: Consequences of floods across Poland
Footage from Reuters shows the city covered in rubble and mud.
"Armageddon... It literally tore out everything because we don't have a single bridge. In Londek, all the bridges have disappeared. We are practically cut off from the world," 70-year-old Jerži Adamčik told Reuters.
In Jesenik, the Czech town across the border that was flooded on Sunday, cleanup has begun after the water receded and damaged cars and rubble can be seen on the streets.
"There were two meters of water flowing through the street... There are many, many destroyed cars," said local resident Zdenek Kuzilek.
"The phones don't work, there's no water, there's no electricity."
In eastern Romania, where villages and towns were flooded over the weekend, Emil Dragomir, mayor of Slobozia Konaci, told Romanian television that some people were left with only the clothes they had.
While water was receding in some areas, others, including Wroclaw, a Polish city of about 600.000, were strengthening their defenses against the floodwaters that came their way.
Seven people died in floods in Romania during the last few days. An Austrian firefighter died on Sunday. In the province of Lower Austria, which surrounds Vienna, two men in their 70s and 80s were found drowned in their homes, a police spokesman said on Monday.
Photo: Consequences of floods throughout Austria
Polish police said four people died in flooding in Poland, and three died in the Czech Republic, a police official said.
Slovakia's capital Bratislava and Hungary's capital Budapest were bracing for possible flooding as the Danube River rises.
Hungarian Interior Minister Sándor Pinter said efforts were aimed at keeping the river and its tributaries within their banks and said up to 12.000 troops were on standby to help.
In Austria, river and reservoir levels fell overnight as the rain eased, but officials said they were bracing for a second wave as more rain was expected.
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