Storm Boris flooding may hit Italy as Portugal wildfires blaze – live

A deputy Portuguese minister has promised “abundant public support” for the recovery of houses destroyed by fires in the north and central regions of the country.

Manuel Castro Almeida admitted that European funds may be used to cover the damage caused by the fires, which could involve reprogramming them.

He said the number for the funds has not been finalised yet but “it will be very substantial public support.”

Torrential rains have gone, flooding waters have been receding and the sun was shining again in the Czech town of Bohumin. But Zuzana Kublova was not in a mood to enjoy it. The house where Kublova’s family lives was inundated as was almost this entire town in the worst flooding in years that spread at a broad swath of Central Europe. After three days in safety upstairs, without power, running water or a cellphone signal, she stepped down to face a scene of destruction. “The entire ground floor is flooded, so all of us seven people and two dogs have to live together on the first floor without electricity and water,” Kublova told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “And don’t even ask how we go to the toilet,” she said. “It has happened again, something that had happened to us two or three times in the past.” The town was submerged by a flood wave brought by the Oder River that was fueled by record rains in northeast Czech Republic in recent days.

Among the hardest hit areas is the district of Aveiro, south of the northern city of Porto, but blazes were also raging out of control in other wooded areas. Portuguese state broadcaster RTP showed images of houses burnt to the ground and smoke billowing over charred terrain in the area of Castro de Aire. Ground units were supported by Portuguese water-dropping aircraft. Fellow European Union members Spain, France Italy and Greece have committed to providing eight more planes to help local forces. “The EU stands with Portugal as it battles major wildfires,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a message on X. “I thank France, Greece, Italy and Spain for their rapid reaction. This is EU solidarity at its best.” Still, televised images showed some residents wielding tree branches and buckets of water to try to save their homes from encroaching fires.

A man who was found dead on Monday afternoon in Austria was identified on Tuesday as a 46-year-old Viennese, police spokeswoman Manuela Weinkirn said.

According to Weinkirn, the man was recovered from the Danube near Marbach on Tuesday afternoon.

Countries need to work together in responding to floods, an expert has told the BBC.

Dr Carmen Solana, Associate Professor in Volcanology and Risk Communication at the University of Portsmouth said floods, such as the ones that have hit Europe this week, are becoming more frequent and in Europe there is some cooperation and agreements, but “there is a need of even more international coordinated responses.”

Soldiers dropped sandbags from military helicopters to reinforce river embankments and evacuated residents as the worst flooding in years spread Tuesday to a broad swath of Central Europe, taking lives and destroying homes.

Other places are now bracing for the flood waves, including two Central European gems: Budapest, the Hungarian capital on the Danube River, and Wroclaw, a city in southwestern Poland on the Oder River, its old town filled with architectural treasures.

Hungary’s government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán deployed soldiers to reinforce barriers along the Danube, and thousands of volunteers assisted in filling sandbags in dozens of riverside settlements.

The national commander of emergency and civil protection André Fernandes said that 105 incidents were recorded from midnight to 12:30 and that 65 fires were still raging.

A total of 5,321 operators, with the support of 1,629 vehicles and 24 aerial resources, are involved in fighting the fires in Portugal.

Some of the roads closed include Motorways 1 (A1) in Aveiro Sul and Estarreja, the A13 in Coimbra, the Complementary Itinerary 2 (IC2) with the A25 junction, the A24 in Castro Daire and Vila Pouca de Aguiar and the A43 and A41 junction in Gondomar.

The Portuguese Professional Football League (LPFP) has declared a minute of silence in games at the weekend in solidarity with the victims of the fires.

A statement said: “The LPFP expresses all the solidarity of professional football towards all those who are being, in some way, affected by this tragedy, also praising the tireless efforts of firefighters, security forces and all the volunteers who have worked hard to combat this scourge.”

The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) will also hold a minute of silence at all of its competition matches from today until Sunday also in memory of the victims of the fires.

Details are beginning to emerge about some of the 19 people who have been killed by the floods.

An 81-year-old woman from Würmla in Austria is the fifth person to die in the current flooding in Lower Austria.

According to chief inspector Johann Baumschlager she died in her flooded house and her body was discovered by emergency services on Tuesday morning.