European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced an $11 billion flood recovery package Thursday for the central and eastern European nations reeling from the devastation to housing and infrastructure caused last week by the floods of Storm Boris.
Some locations are still facing the threat of rising waters, while others remain inaccessible, according to European media reports.
Von der Leyen announced the package during a visit to a flood-damaged area in southeastern Poland, before her meeting with some of the leaders of the flood-affected countries.
"It was for me on the one hand heartbreaking to see the destruction and the devastation through the floods," she said. "But I must also say it was on the other hand heartwarming to see the enormous solidarity between the people.”
The death toll from Boris has climbed to 24. Romania and Poland have reported seven deaths each; the Czech Republic and Austria have each recorded five.
Von der Leyen said the relief money would be available soon from the European Union’s cohesion and solidarity funds, with $10 billion coming from the cohesion fund.
The European Commission president also met Thursday in Wroclaw, Poland — a city hit with massive flooding in 1997 — with the leaders of some of the flood-affected countries. They included Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer.
The prime ministers of Hungary and Romania did not attend because of previous engagements.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
