The death toll from flooding in central Europe has risen to eight as thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in the Czech Republic following days of torrential rain that caused rivers to burst their banks in several parts of the region.
Since Thursday, swathes of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia have been hit by high winds and unusually heavy rainfall.
More rain and strong winds are forecast, but the rain has eased in Romania, which bore the brunt of flooding a day earlier.
Thousands of homes have been damaged over the weekend, bridges swept away and at least 250,000 households - mainly in the Czech Republic - were affected by power cuts.
Sunday's death toll brings the overall number of deaths from the storm to eight, with thousands evacuated across the continent.
One person drowned in southwestern Poland, a firefighter taking part in rescue efforts was killed in Austria and two more people were killed in Romania, where the floods claimed four lives yesterday.
In Austria, the province surrounding Vienna where government officials said the firefighter had died, authorities declared the area a disaster zone and warned against non-essential travel.
A bridge collapsed in the historic Polish town of Głuchołazy near the Czech border and local officials ordered evacuations.
Local media said another bridge collapsed in the mountain town of Stronie Śląskie, where a dam burst, according to the Polish weather institute.
"Heartfelt solidarity with all affected by the devastating floods in Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia," EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X, formerly Twitter, adding that the EU was ready to offer support.
Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk, who visited nearby flooded areas, said on X, the government would announce a state of disaster and seek European Union aid.
Police in the Czech Republic said they are searching for three people who were in a car that plunged into the river Stařeč near Lipová-lázně, a village about 235km east of the capital, Prague.
Rainfall in the area has reached about 500mm since Wednesday.
Reuters footage showed flood waters gushing through Lipová-lázně and neighbouring Jeseník, damaging some houses and carrying debris.
"We don't know what will be next," said Mirek Burianek, a resident of Jeseník.
"The internet network isn't working, telephones don't work ... We are waiting for who will show up (to help)."
Lipová-lázně resident Pavel Bily told Reuters the floods were even worse than those seen in 1997.
"My house is underwater and I don't know if I will even return to it," he said.
Residents in some flooded areas were bracing for conditions to deteriorate.
"When it rains (in the nearby mountains), it will arrive here in five or six hours," said Ferdinand Gampl, an 84-year-old resident of the village of Visnova, 138km north of Prague.
Emergency services used a helicopter to evacuate people stranded in the Lipová-lázně district.
Overall, more than 10,000 people had been evacuated in the country, the head of the fire service told Czech television.
In the Hungarian capital, Budapest, officials raised forecasts for the river Danube to rise in the second half of this week to more than 8.5 metres, nearing a record of 8.91 metres in 2013.
As the rain eased in Romania, workers sought to restore power supplies to some 11,000 homes and clean-up efforts started as residents surveyed the damage.
"Everything I have is destroyed," said Victoria Salceanu in the eastern village of Slobozia Conachi.
