The overwhelming storm Boris The hurricane is moving towards western Europe after its devastating passage through central and eastern Europe, where it has caused at least 24 deaths from Romania to Poland and damages that have yet to be quantified. In northern Italy, it has already left one dead and two missing since Tuesday, the evacuation of a thousand people and flooding from torrential rains. Meanwhile, cities in central and eastern Europe, such as Wroclaw in Poland, or Budapest in Hungary, remain on high alert due to the overflowing of the rivers that cross them. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has promised 10 billion euros from the Cohesion Funds to the affected countries.
In Italy, the worst-affected region is Emilia-Romagna, the same area that suffered severe flooding in May last year. In 2023, two rounds of torrential rain and landslides killed 17 people and caused damage worth 8.5 billion euros. According to the regional environmental agency, the storm has gained strength and humidity as it reaches the Mediterranean and is discharging an even greater volume of water than last year. “What was thought impossible is now common,” said an official.
The region is on high alert for further deterioration: “It has been raining non-stop for more than 48 hours, non-stop,” Irene Priolo told RAI public radio. Around 1,000 people have been evacuated from their homes overnight so far, a figure still far below the 45,000 forced to leave by earlier floods, which affected a wider area. Several rivers have burst their banks, notably the Senio in Castel Bolognese and the Marzeno in Faenza. Also in several towns around the regional capital, Bologna, where evacuations have taken place in some neighbourhoods. In Traversara di Bagnacavallo, in the province of Ravenna, where two people have gone missing, several helicopter rescues have been carried out on the roofs of houses.
The national fire brigade has reported carrying out more than 500 rescue operations. Trains are not running across the region and schools have been closed in four provinces. In towns such as Lugo, near Ravenna, authorities ordered the evacuation of all ground-floor apartments after the Senio river burst its banks. Flooding and landslides also hit neighbouring regions of Tuscany and Marche.
These new floods, one year later, have unleashed accusations between the central and regional governments, the former being far-right and the latter centre-left, about what has been done in this time and how the money intended to alleviate the damage has been spent. These are recurring controversies in Italy, with infrastructures often very deficient, every time a natural disaster is repeated in the same place.
The Minister for Civil Protection, Nello Musumeci, was very harsh: “What is happening is the result of what we have done and what we have not done. (…) Emilia-Romagna has received almost 600 million euros from the Government.” The acting regional president, Irene Priolo, replied that the funds have been invested appropriately, but “to withstand events of this magnitude, structural interventions are needed.” In the city of Faenza, for example, the same district was flooded this morning as last year and the mayor regretted that they had asked for the construction of a wall, but it was not done “due to bureaucratic delays.”
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In the municipality of Budrio, the newspaper The Republic She has spoken to residents who have already been evacuated three times, in 2019, 2023 and now. They had just finished repairing their homes for last year’s damage, out of their own pockets, waiting for the money to be reimbursed, although some of them are still waiting for the compensation from 2019 to arrive.
24 dead in central and eastern Europe
The storm has left a trail of destruction across several Central European countries, where no one is yet to be found safe. At least 24 people have died – five in the Czech Republic, seven in Romania, seven in Poland and five in Austria. The deluge has scattered mud and debris across cities, destroyed bridges, submerged cars and left authorities and households with a bill for damages that will run into billions of euros.
Wroclaw, Poland’s third largest city with more than 600,000 inhabitants, is preparing to withstand the rising Oder River, although early signs suggest its defences are holding up. The city was visited on Thursday by the President of the European Commission, who met with the heads of government of several affected countries: Donald Tusk of Poland, the host country of the meeting; Karl Nehammer of Austria; Petr Fiala of the Czech Republic; and Robert Fico of Slovakia.
After a 45-minute meeting, the leaders appeared together. Von der Leyen acknowledged that the Solidarity Fund can be used to rebuild roads, highways, railways and bridges, but “it will be insufficient given the scale of the destruction.” The President of the Commission has therefore committed to also allocating 10 billion euros from the Cohesion Funds for the countries affected by the floods, with 100% financing from the EU. “These unique times require unique solutions,” she said.
With the massive flood that engulfed the city in 1997 — and killed more than 50 people in the country — still fresh in memory, the government has deployed all means at its disposal to avert catastrophe, including 16,000 soldiers deployed across the region, along with police and thousands of volunteers. “It is too early to announce that the flood in Wroclaw has been overcome,” said conservative liberal leader Tusk cautiously during a meeting with a crisis team. “I would prefer that we remain nervous and try to guess … the rise in the state of the rivers as accurately as possible.”
In Hungary, cities are awaiting rising waters on the Danube River, and ultra-conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has warned that water levels in Budapest are expected to peak on Saturday afternoon or evening but would be lower than record levels seen in 2013. “Hungary will make it, we will successfully defend ourselves from this flood as well,” he said late on Wednesday.