As residents of the Polish town of Glucholazy struggled to salvage what they could from their flood-ravaged homes on Wednesday, they praised friends, family and rescue workers for their help, but wondered if authorities could have done more.

Thousands of residents of Nysa, in southern Poland, formed a human chain overnight to pass each other sandbags, building a wall along a river embankment to keep the raging waters at bay.

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.

Volunteers and emergency workers raced to secure river banks in the historic Polish city of Wroclaw on Tuesday, as residents elsewhere in central Europe tallied the cost of floods that have wreaked havoc and killed at least 21 people.

Poland has declared a state of disaster in the area and set aside 1 billion zlotys ($260.38 million) for flood victims. Overnight, volunteers helped rescue workers heave sandbags to build up the broken embankment around Nysa,

Border areas between the Czech Republic and Poland were hit especially hard by floods over the weekend, with Romania and Austria also affected.

By Kuba Stezycki, Janis Laizans and Radovan Stoklasa WROCLAW, Poland/OSTRAVA, Czech Republic (Reuters) -Residents and emergency workers raced to secure river banks in the historic Polish city of Wroclaw on Tuesday,

The death toll from extreme weather and flooding in central and eastern Europe has risen to 22. Authorities said that there more deaths were reported in Poland and one in Austria in the wake of Storm Boris.

Torrential rains over the weekend severely impacted the Poland-Czech border, causing bridge collapses, evacuations, and major damage to vehicles and homes

Heavy rainfall is pounding Central Europe causing deadly flooding. Four new deaths were reported Monday in Poland, three in the Czech Republic and one in Romania. The flooding has swamped parts of Austria,