Cities in Central Europe reinforce riverbanks ahead of more flooding

Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Soldiers have dropped sandbags from military helicopters to reinforce river embankments and evacuated residents as the worst flooding in years spreads across Central Europe. The floods were critical in Poland on Tuesday even as waters began to recede in other battered countries, including the Czech Republic and Austria. Firefighters and soldiers spent the night using sandbags to reinforce river embankments in the southwestern Polish city of Wroclaw, its old town filled with historic landmarks. The city zoo, located along the Oder River, appealed for volunteers on Tuesday morning to fill sandbags. In Budapest, authorities closed the city’s lower quays and half of the city’s iconic Margaret Island.