Live blog on the flood: ++ Reservoir in Lower Austria about to overflow ++

The authorities in Lower Austria expect the Ottenstein reservoir to overflow this afternoon. Czech Prime Minister Fiala appealed to citizens to follow the instructions of the emergency services. All developments in the live blog.

After heavy rainfall, a dam broke in southwest Poland. After the structure gave way in Stronie Slaskie in Lower Silesia, the water is now flowing down the Biala Ladecka river and heading towards the Kłodzko Neisse area, the Meteorological Institute on X reported.

It is said that there is a serious threat to the towns along these rivers. The police have sent a rescue helicopter to the area to bring people trapped by the water to safety. Soldiers from the army and homeland security are also deployed.

In Romania, the number of fatalities from the floods has risen to five. In the southeastern region of Galati, another person died in the floods, rescue workers said. The victim died in the area of ​​the village of Slobozia Conachi.

At least four people died in the same area on Saturday. People in the region are standing in water up to their upper bodies.

Dresden’s old town is to be protected from rising floodwaters by mobile protective walls. According to current water level forecasts, construction work is planned for Monday morning, the Saxon state capital announced. This is to prevent water from flowing over the terrace bank into the old town. If the water level reaches 5.50 meters earlier, the start of work will be brought forward. At around 12:00 p.m., the water level was 4.56 meters.

From a water level of about six meters, the information begins after the closure of the flood protection gates at Weißeritzstraße and Ostra-Ufer, which also protect the old town.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala has appealed to citizens to follow the instructions of emergency services in the face of flooding. Some people refused to follow the evacuation orders and leave their apartments or houses.

“In doing so, they are not only endangering themselves, but also the people who will then have to try to save them when things get dramatic,” Fiala said on public television CT. We believe that the preventive measures would be unnecessary, which is crazy.

In Lower Austria, emergency services are staring intently at the dam wall at the Ottenstein power station on the Kamp river. Because the rain is continuing, the crisis team expects the water from the reservoir to flow over the wall in the afternoon. A flood wave is expected in the Kamp valley. “The situation will certainly escalate again this afternoon,” warned the mayor of Gars on the Kamp river, Martin Falk, on the oe24 broadcaster. In the town with around 300 inhabitants, a good 151 people were brought to safety.

While the flood situation in Germany is still relatively relaxed, the neighboring countries of Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic are battling against the masses of water as a result of heavy rainfall. There are two more dead and several missing. The authorities have declared the whole of Lower Austria a disaster area.