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.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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