At least 23 people have now died in Europe's flood disaster as the Polish city of Wrocław sees the level of the Oder river peak and Austria begins planning for "years" of reconstruction. The water level on the Oder river flowing through Poland's fourth-largest city Wrocław peaked overnight and is expected to stay high for some time,

Soldiers and volunteers in southwestern Poland have laid sandbags near swollen rivers around the city of Wrocław to protect homes and businesses after days of flooding across Central Europe. Poland joins Austria, the Czech Republic and Romania in being hard hit by floods following record rains in the region starting last Thursday.

Based on estimates from local officials, the damage to infrastructure could reach a combined $10 billion in these two countries alone. Poland's finance minister said the $5.6 billion allotted from EU funds would cover some, but not all of the costs to recover from the floods.