Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski said on Friday a pledge worth 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion) from the European Union to help the country cope with the fallout from its worst flooding in at least two decades may not be enough to cover its losses.

Soldiers and residents in southwestern Poland are laying sandbags near swollen rivers around the city of Wroclaw to protect homes and businesses after days of flooding across Central Europe.

Severe flooding in Central Europe, caused by a low-pressure system, has devastated Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Romania. Authorities report 23 deaths, with thousands of soldiers and volunteers working to safeguard homes and businesses.

Just a week ago, before deadly floods swept through central Europe, the Czech Republic looked on track to become the first country in the region since COVID-19 to pull its budget deficit firmly below the 3% of GDP cap set by European Union rules.

Exceptionally heavy rainfall has been pounding Central Europe and has prompted deadly flooding in the region, with four new deaths reported in Poland, three in Czech Republic and one in Romania.

Volunteers in the Polish town of Nysa fortified floodwalls to stem swollen rivers on Tuesday after heavy rain and flooding round central Europe that has killed at least 18 people. Rivers were still spilling banks in the Czech Republic,

By Janis Laizans and Radovan Stoklasa NYSA, Poland/OSTRAVA, Czech Republic (Reuters) -Poland's historic city of Wroclaw readied buses for possible evacuations on Tuesday and the zoo called for volunteers to protect animals from rising water as the death toll in three days of devastating floods across central Europe rose to 21.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen has pledged billions of euros in aid for Central European countries that suffered enormous damage to infrastructure and housing during the massive flooding th

By Kacper Pempel and Kuba Stezycki WROCLAW, Poland (Reuters) -Volunteers and emergency personnel raced to secure river banks and buildings in Poland and Hungary on Tuesday as flood waters that have wreaked havoc across central Europe began to rise in new areas and the Czech Republic reported another death.