Catastrophic floods devastate Eastern and Central Europe

Snapshots like this one, taken in Romania, in the town of Slobozia Conachi, reveal the extent of the heavy rains that are hitting a large part of Europe.

Hundreds of hectares of dry land have been overrun by flood waters, as can be seen in this image captured in Romania.

It is not unusual for rain to fall in Europe in the early stages of autumn, but this precipitation is absolutely catastrophic. Here we have another picture of the severe flooding in Romania.

Torrential rains have been wreaking havoc on a wide swathe of Central and Eastern Europe since 14 September. Countries such as Austria, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are suffering from devastating floods. Pictured here is the Czech town of Mikulovice.

The name of the atmospheric disturbance that is causing such violent rains is Boris, a storm of atypical dimensions. Rescue teams are on alert and working at full capacity.

The danger is real. According to data collected by the BBC, there were five deaths in Romania, another in Poland from drowning and a firefighter died in Austria during a rescue. There are many people missing and until the waters recede it will not be known what happened to them.

This is a picture of the Danube as it passes through Vienna. The waters of the iconic river that runs through Europe have overflowed.

The Vienna region has already been declared a "catastrophic zone" by the authorities. Thousands of people have been evacuated from several countries.

The BBC reports that  "Some of the worst rainfall has been in the Czech Republic, where some areas have seen around three months’ rainfall in just three days." An extreme meteorological phenomenon following an extremely hot summer.

Many experts believe that these types of extreme phenomena (torrential downpours that cause devastation in a very short time) are becoming commonplace due to climate change.

Reservoirs such as this one in Ottenstein, Austria, are urgently being drained due to the risk that the accumulation of water will affect their structure.

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The torrential rains in Europe are causing tragic human losses but also a significant number of material losses, with dozens and dozens of houses destroyed and people losing their homes forever.