Flash floods in the Czech Republic have left 10 people dead, police and medical services confirmed today, while the situation started to ease in Central European countries affected by high waters, according to dpa. The Czech government has pledged 2.8 million dollars in disaster aid, whilst police warned other victims could still be found among the wreckage of several villages hit by the flooding. Austria, Germany and Poland remain on high flood alert, following three days of heavy rains. Most of the Czech victims died overnight Wednesday to Thursday in the north-eastern of the country, in and around the town of Novy Jicin, where river levels were as high as seven metres above ordinairy levels. Six people drowned, while the other victims likely died of heart attacks. At a press conference, Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer said 54 million koruna (2.8 million dollars) of government funds would be earmarked for relief efforts, and that up to 1,000 soldiers were being sent to help handle the situation in the country's east. Hungary, which lies downstream from Austria along the Danube, was bracing for the high waters flowing east. In Austria, water levels stabilized after three days of heavy rain, but there were warnings of renewed thunderstorms and risk of small-scale flooding in the country's eastern provinces. "That's why we are talking about an easing of the situation, without giving the all-clear," said Gerhard Hohenwarter of Austria's Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics. Around 1,000 Austrian firefighters and over 650 soldiers were deployed in clean-up efforts, while Vienna's prestigious Albertina museum evacuated about 950,000 artworks, including priceless drawings by Michelangelo. After Tuesday's floods in Poland, the situation stabilized, but alerts were still in effect in several southern districts.
