This issue of the CRED Crunch reveals the human and economic impacts of floods, with a special focus on Europe. Floods are the most common natural disaster in the world but also in Europe. They have a significant impact on the health and mental status of communities.

General floods can be defined as gradually rising inland water levels due to high total depth of rainfall or snowmelt, caused when a body of water (e.g. rivers, lakes) overflows its normal confines. These floods are longer term events that may last for days or weeks, in

* Polish government pledges financial aid

* Dam burst compounds flood damage

* Lithuania reports four dead after a storm

By Rob Strybel

WARSAW, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Rescue workers sought to clear flood-borne debris including damaged cars and evacuate victims after heavy rains and stormy winds across central Europe killed at least 15 people over the weekend.

Heavy downpours on Saturday caused rivers to overflow their banks and a dam to burst, submerging Bogatynia and other towns in the southwest corner of Poland and killing at least three people,

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* Thousands evacuated, power outages in some areas

WARSAW, May 17 (Reuters) - Flash floods triggered by days of heavy rain have killed at least four people, forced mass evacuations and cut off power to thousands in central Europe and weather forecasts offered no hope of respite in coming days.

In southern Poland, one woman in her 60s and a 45-year-old man perished on Monday in separate incidents after being washed away by flood waters, officials and local media reported.

The Polish interior ministry said it

The weather caused disruption in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Serbia with fresh storms expected in many areas of central and southeastern Europe that have already been hit by a harsh winter.

In southern Poland, officials said three people died -- a man swept away while walking next to a river with his

13/10/2009

Beneficiary

Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic

Location

* Czech Republic

Description

Reconstruction of damage caused by floods in June and July 2009.

Objectives

The proposed operation includes flood damage repair investments in four affected Czech river basins (South Bohemia, Ústi Region, Olomouc Region and Moravian Region) after the floods of summer 2009.

Comments

Sector(s)

* Water, sewerage, solid waste

Proposed EIB finance

CZK 7 000 million

Total cost

CZK 7 600 million

Environmental aspects

CHF 295,187 (EUR 194,147 or USD 273,306) has been allocated from the International Federation's Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the National Society in delivering immediate

Firefighters overnight evacuated several villages and two holiday resorts near Strakonice and Prachatice in the southwest, which has been hit with heavy rainfall.

The one fatality was a 47-year-old man whose body was found late Saturday in a river.

"He had no doubt been taken by surprise by the sudden rising of the water while he was trying to remove some machines