Helicopters ferried food to an Alpine resort yesterday and plucked people from roofs in the capital Berne as flood-ravaged Switzerland braced for more rain.
In Romania, one of the countries worst hit by the downpours that lashed parts of central Europe earlier this week, the death toll from flooding rose by six to 31 yesterday, with another three people missing, including a four-year-old girl.
The torrential rains forced lakes and rivers to burst their banks from Berne to Bucharest, cutting roads, power and communications to hundreds of communities and causing damage estimated at worth well over US$1 billion in Switzerland alone.
PHOTO: AP
In Berne, helicopters lifted residents from roofs and balconies of their homes in the oldest part of town where they were trapped by the waters. Officials fear centuries-old buildings could be swept away.
In Lucerne, sandbags protected shops and homes and residents watched anxiously as the river Reuss rushed perilously close beneath the city's covered 14th-century wooden bridge -- a national landmark.
Forecasters said the weather could get worse, with a further 20mm to 30mm of rain expected later in the week over Switzerland.
Driftwood has been swept into lakes and rivers and now threatens to smash bridges and other installations, rescue officials said.
The Swiss army was using Puma helicopters to supply the scenic mountain resort of Engelberg, which has been cut off since Monday by rain which also sent part of the railway line plunging down a ravine.
One of 700 tourists evacuated by air on Wednesday from the village said they had been without hot food, clean water and electricity.
The Swiss authorities have warned sightseers to stay away from the floodwaters, worried about a sudden rise in river levels or more flash floods.
In southern Germany, a 28-year-old man drowned when he ventured out with two friends in a dinghy which capsized on the River Mangfall near the town of Feldkirchen-Westerham.
He was the first person to die in Germany in the floods, which have turned regions of Bavaria into disaster zones. The other two men were rescued.
The cities of Passau and Ingolstadt were expected to escape the devastation initially predicted when torrential rains produced heavy damage in the Alpine region to the south on Monday and Tuesday.
Dry weather was forecast through much of the region, providing relief for panicked residents who had piled sandbags in front of homes and businesses in recent days to shield them from the raging waters.
Bavarian authorities said the crisis had eased in several areas but the situation remained critical along sections of the River Danube.
In Romania, the latest deaths were from the Transylvanian region of Harghita. Floods across the country have killed 67 so far this year.
Austrian crews were using heavy equipment to clear away tonnes of mud, gravel and rocks dumped inside hundreds of homes, hotels and businesses in mountain valleys in Vorarlberg and neighboring Tyrol Province.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS