Storm Boris: Italians evacuate as flooding hits Emilia-Romagna
Tens of thousands of people had to flee their homes and the flooding caused billions of euros of damage.
Italy is the latest country to suffer the fury of Storm Boris – a low pressure system which swept across Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Austria, killing at least 23 people.
Although the worst appears to be over across much of the region, the levels of the Danube River are still rising in Hungary. Prime Minister Victor Orban said on Wednesday the water level in Budapest was expected to peak on Saturday afternoon or evening, but that it would be lower than record levels seen in 2013.
The leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria are due to meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Wroclaw later today to discuss aid for the flood-hit region.
The city, in southwestern Poland, has also been threatened by high river levels for days.
The recent events in central Europe fit with expectations of more extreme rainfall in a warming world, although it is not yet possible to quantify exactly how much of a role climate change has played.
However, climate scientists have been warning for years about extreme rainfall events like these occurring as the planet warms.
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