Mass evacuations are being prompted by the widespread flooding that is still wreaking havoc over Central Europe. Fearing a possible breach of an embankment near a small lake, Kordian Kolbiarz, the mayor of Nysa, Poland, ordered all 44,000 residents to leave. Due to the catastrophic floods, at least 16 people have died in Romania, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Poland; important rivers like the Danube pose a threat to additional tragedies.
A 500-kilometer section of the Danube has been marked with flood warnings by Hungarian authorities due to the river’s daily rise of around one meter. Roads in Budapest will be closed, and trains between Vienna and the Hungarian capital will not operate. Towns in Austria and Romania, as well as the capital city of Slovakia, Bratislava, have also been badly impacted.