Entire urban area is evacuated due to floods, seven lives lost in wildfires as severe weather ravages Europe
Seven individuals have perished in fires in Portugal since Sunday, among them three firefighters whose vehicle ignited on Tuesday. At least 17 have lost their lives in what authorities have termed as the most devastating floods to hit central and eastern Europe in decades.
The mayor of Nysa in Poland ordered the evacuation of all 44,000 residents as the city's river levels surged and threatened to cause more flooding in its neighborhoods.
Grzegorz Grochowski from Nysa described the scene where residents and rescuers transported sandbags to the river embankment through the night until early Tuesday morning, constructing a barrier to stop the river from bursting its banks.
"There was a human chain here, individuals handing off sandbags to one another," Grochowski told Reuters on Tuesday. "The helicopter was also dropping big bags of sand to fortify the barrier throughout the night until around 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning."
Pregnant women and other patients were evacuated from the city's hospital due to rising floodwaters that forced the facility to shut down, prior to all Nysa residents being ordered to leave. Only rescuers and those working to control the river floodwaters remain.
Rainfall is forecasted to decrease through Tuesday, but officials have warned of dangerously high water levels in rivers that could potentially flood low-lying urban areas.
The heaviest rainfall has moved to parts of northern and eastern Italy, where an orange rainfall warning has been issued.
Emergency services in Poland and the Czech Republic have conducted several helicopter rescues in the town of Ladek Zdrój after residents were trapped in their homes. Floodwaters have receded in Ladek Zdrój after several days of heavy rain, but damage to rural villages remains extensive.
In Jesenik, residents accustomed to welcoming visitors to its famed spa resorts have instead dealt with torrents of dirty water.
Flooding has affected the entire Czech-Polish border, reaching as far down as the city of Ostrava, where thousands of residents were left without hot water on Monday. The operators of the region's main heating plant ordered a complete shutdown.
Road closures due to wildfires in Portugal
Portuguese authorities closed highways and roads due to wildfires, disrupting travel across the country, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.
Six highways have been closed because of nearby wildfires, including the country's main road connecting Lisbon and Porto, the ministry announced. In total, 19 large roads have been blocked due to their proximity to the flames.
Over 5,000 firefighters are fighting wildfires on Tuesday, according to the Portuguese Civil Protection Agency, as 21 large, rural fires continue to blaze across the country.
Civilians have been evacuated from their homes and schools have been closed in certain areas, CNN Portugal reported on Tuesday, with much of the country under a yellow alert for wildfire risk.
Giant smoke plumes from the wildfires can be seen from space, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) confirmed on Tuesday.
A representative from Portugal’s Civil Protection stated that the weather is hindering firefighting efforts, as overnight humidity remained low. Firefighters typically rely on lower nighttime temperatures and higher humidity to aid in their efforts to extinguish the blazes, but the dry weather conditions have caused the fires to spread further.
CNN Weather’s Robert Shackelford contributed to this report
Europe has been affected by numerous natural disasters recently, with central and eastern Europe experiencing the most devastating floods in decades, resulting in the loss of at least 17 lives. The world is watching as Portugal battles wildfires, causing road closures and evacuations.
