By Kacper Pempel
WROCLAW, Poland (Reuters) -Volunteers and emergency personnel worked through the night to fortify the Polish city of Wroclaw against approaching flood waters, while Hungary opened a dam as the prime minister warned a "crucial period" was approaching.
The worst floods to hit central Europe in at least two decades have left a trail of destruction from Romania to Poland, spreading mud and debris in towns, destroying bridges, submerging cars and leaving authorities and householders with a bill for damages that will run into billions of dollars.
"A lot happened tonight," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told a crisis meeting in Wroclaw. "We will need urgent information...from those places that received high water."
Lines of people in Wroclaw passed sandbags to fortify river banks and to protect buildings. Authorities expect waters to peak in Wroclaw on Thursday.
The Polish defence ministry said more than 14,000 soldiers had been deployed to flood-hit regions, with the armed forces using helicopters to evacuate people and strengthen flood defences, while drones monitored the situation from above.
Towns to the south of Wroclaw, such as Lewin Brzeski, have already felt the full might of the floods, forcing residents to wade through the streets in waist-high water or seek refuge on the roofs of the entrances to blocks of flats.
Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski told the crisis meeting that 2 billion zlotys ($521 million) in funds had been secured for dealing with the effects of the floods.
Tusk said there had been reports of soaring prices for many products in flood-hit areas and he did not rule out the introduction of price controls.
He also said the government would pay instalments of the mortgages of people whose houses had been flooded for a year.
'TRAGIC HARDSHIPS'
Pope Francis talked about the "tragic hardships" caused by the floods during his weekly general audience in St Peter's Square.
"I assure everyone of my closeness, praying especially for those who have lost their lives and their families."
In Hungary, authorities opened a dam in the country's northwest to channel water from the Lajta river into an emergency reservoir in a bid to protect the city of Mosonmagyarovar.
The water was allowed to flow onto agricultural land.
In the capital Budapest, the Danube is still expected to peak around or slightly above 8.5 metres, likely on Friday or Saturday.
"Due to heavy rains and floods, the situation is critical all across Central Europe," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a post on social media platform X late on Tuesday.
"According to the latest forecasts, the crucial period for Hungary will begin tomorrow (Wednesday), so flood protection is going full steam ahead."
Drone footage from Tuesday showed the Hungarian village of Venek, near Gyor in the north of the country, submerged under water.
"I think it's kind of connected to the climate change because it's a sudden flood," said 51 year-old resident Georg Bercsanyi.
In the Czech Republic, water levels were mostly receding, but rivers were still peaking in some parts of southern Bohemia.
Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura said on Tuesday he would like parliament to approve an amendment to the budget to make room for flood relief, even though the cost of the damage is still not known. Stanjura said it could perhaps be in the order of $4 billion.
Mayors of some Czech towns in the Opava river area demanded that this weekend's elections for regional assemblies and one third of the upper house of parliament be postponed due to a lack of power and flooding of polling stations.
However, the government has decided to carry on with the vote, saying that makeshift voting stations and other improvised solutions would be used.
($1 = 3.8385 zlotys)
(Reporting by Kacper Pempel in Wroclaw, Pawel Florkiewicz in Warsaw, Krisztina Than and Gergely Szakacs in Budapest, Jan Lopatka in Prague, Fedja Grulovic, Dragan Kastratovic in Venek, Crispian Balmer in Rome, Writing by Alan Charlish; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Angus MacSwan)
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