- New study reinforces theory Covid emerged at Chinese market
- World Bank boosts climate financing by 10 percent
- Bagnaia eyeing summit on home ground in 100th MotoGP
- 'Something was wrong', defendant in French mass rape tells court
- Hezbollah chief admits 'unprecedented' blow in device blasts
- Sales of US existing homes slip slightly in August
- Fear, panic haunt Lebanese after devices explode
- Labuschagne sparks Australia fightback in England ODI opener
- S.Africa's HIV research power couple says fight goes on
- Why is Israel focusing on border with Lebanon?
- Mpox vaccines administered in Rwanda, first in Africa
- US Fed rate cut is 'very positive sign' for economy: Yellen
- Unknown Mozart string trio discovered in Germany
- 'Are we five-year-olds?' F1 drivers won't mind their language
- Brazil judge orders X to reimpose block or face hefty fine
- Munich to rename stadium street after Beckenbauer
- Champions Italy to face Argentina in Davis Cup Final 8
- The winding, fitful path to weight loss drug Ozempic
- Italians defeat American Magic to reach Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Norris has 'nothing to lose' as he hunts Verstappen in Singapore
- Kyiv 'outraged' at Swiss showing of Russian war film
- French city renames Abbe Pierre square after abuse claims
- Footballer charged after huge cannabis seizure at UK airport
- Vatican recognises Medjugorje shrine, but not Virgin's messages
- Bank of England freezes rate after jumbo US cut
- Playing Nadal is 'kind of a nightmare', says Alcaraz
- Portugal tackles last of deadly northern forest fires
- Ton-up Ashwin lifts India to 339-6 against Bangladesh
- Departing NATO chief warns US against 'isolationism'
- Coming winter 'sternest test yet' for Ukraine energy grid
- Evacuations as tail of Storm Boris floods northeast Italy
- Lebanon's Hezbollah reeling after second wave of deadly blasts
- Taiwan recognises same-sex marriages between Chinese, Taiwanese
- Stock markets rally after jumbo US rate cut
- Gabon's ousted leader Bongo says renouncing politics for good
- Lebanon device blasts: what we know about deadly attacks
- Late Harrods owner Al-Fayed accused of rape: BBC
- Hong Kong man sentenced 14 months for wearing 'seditious' T-shirt
- Lebanon's Hezbollah in disarray after second wave of deadly blasts
- Meta and Spotify blast EU decisions on AI
- Hasan takes three as Bangladesh rattle India in first Test
- Two killed during police operation in New Caledonia
- Flood-hit region leaders to meet in Poland to discuss EU aid
- Sri Lanka to vote in first poll since economic collapse
- Hong Kong probe finds Cathay Airbus defect could cause 'extensive' damage
- AI development cannot be left to market whim, UN experts warn
- All Blacks primed for 'hell' of a Wallabies clash
- Zoom fatigue? Try some nature in your background: study
- Japan walkie-talkie maker says investigating after Lebanon blasts
- Slipper to become most-capped Wallaby in All Blacks clash
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.14% | 25.02 | $ | |
BP | 1.58% | 32.951 | $ | |
BCC | 4.01% | 142.78 | $ | |
SCS | -6.81% | 13.21 | $ | |
GSK | -1.06% | 41.985 | $ | |
BTI | -0.68% | 37.625 | $ | |
NGG | -1.63% | 68.925 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.1% | 25.005 | $ | |
RELX | 1.54% | 48.11 | $ | |
RIO | 3.56% | 65.23 | $ | |
RYCEF | 5.48% | 6.93 | $ | |
JRI | -0.3% | 13.4 | $ | |
AZN | 0.87% | 79.27 | $ | |
VOD | -1.64% | 10.065 | $ | |
BCE | -0.54% | 35.42 | $ |
Storm Boris toll rises to 21 in central Europe
The death toll has risen to 21 in the extreme weather and flooding let loose by Storm Boris in central Europe, authorities said Tuesday after two more victims were reported in Poland and one in Austria.
High winds and unusually heavy rainfall have hit swathes of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia since last week.
Although the weather seemed to be stabilising in several places, the ground remained saturated and rivers were overflowing, with authorities asking people to remain cautious.
Two big cities in Poland -- Opole in the south and Wroclaw in the west -- were still awaiting the flood wave and there were concerns that the dykes there could break.
Polish police reported on Tuesday that two more people had died as a result of Storm Boris, raising the toll in the country to six.
The police said they believe all six Polish victims had drowned.
The latest were discovered in the southwestern district of Klodzko.
"The body of an 82-year-old man was discovered in a car," district police spokeswoman Wioletta Martuszewska told AFP.
"A couple of hours later, mountain rescue services said the body of a man had been found near a riverbed," she added.
There were unofficial reports of additional victims elsewhere, but police cautioned against publishing unverified information.
"We ask everyone not to report false information about the number of flood victims in the media," the police said on X, formerly Twitter.
- 'Disaster' -
A new victim was also reported on Tuesday in Austria.
An 81-year-old woman was Austria's fifth victim of the floods, a police spokesman told AFP.
The fire brigade found the woman's body on Tuesday in her flooded home in Lower Austria, the worst-impacted province in the Alpine nation.
In addition to the five people killed in Austria and six in Poland, Storm Boris has caused the deaths of seven people in Romania and three in the Czech Republic, according to the latest tallies.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Monday announced one billion zloty ($260 million) in aid for those in Poland hit by the storm.
In Austria, on Tuesday, 26 communities were cut off and with the weather improving, "we are discovering the scale of the disaster", Lower Austrian governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner told reporters.
The largest Czech retention basin, the Rozmberk pond in the country's south, has been overflowing its banks.
Experts say climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions generated by human activities is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as torrential rains and floods.
Andreas von Weissenberg of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said studies to determine whether climate change is linked to these events are expected in the coming months.
Von Weissenberg said local Red Cross teams were helping the rescue and evacuation efforts, including attending to people's "emotional and mental health".
He said the floods have been "branded as historic", but warned that "climate change has a way of moving the goalposts".
burs-amj/rox
G.M.Castelo--PC