President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has instructed Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Prime Minister Denys Smyhal to offer neighboring countries the assistance of Ukrainian rescuers in dealing with the aftermath of flooding due to extreme rainfall.
As announced in his evening address, Zelenskyy noted that strong weather conditions left their mark on Ukraine and neighboring countries: ”Heavy rains these days, flooding in the Odesa Oblast (…) unfortunately, there are also critical situations in neighboring countries due to these extreme rains.”
Zelenskyy said that he has instructed Sybiha and Shymhal to offer assistance to the affected countries neighboring Ukraine.
Sybiha clarified on social media that these countries include the Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia. Ukraine has offered to send State Emergency Service’s units to assist in mitigating the effects of the heavy floods.
”We express condolences for the lives lost and damage caused by the floods in Central Europe. Our thoughts are with all affected communities. We wish our neighbors to overcome this natural disaster as soon as possible,” Sybiha said on X.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský announced earlier on 15 September that Ukraine has offered human and material assistance to its rescue services. Lipavský will present Kyiv’s proposal at an emergency government meeting.
Catastrophic floods in Europe
Central- and Eastern Europe has been hit with heavy rainfall half-way through September. This rainfall is caused by ”Storm Boris”, with more torrential downpours in the forecast through until at least the end of Monday.
The storm has led to multiple deaths, and several people have been trapped inside their homes, with the effects of the storm being felt across Austria, Poland and Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia.
Storm Boris is being described as a 1 in 50 year event by the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic. However the frequency of this type of flooding is likely to increase.
Following the extreme flooding back in 2021 in Europe, the World Weather Attribution Network concluded that the likelihood and intensity of this type of flooding event in Europe is increasing in a rapidly warming climate.
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