Storms and heavy rain have caused chaos and extensive property damage in Slovakia, authorities said on Thursday after southern areas bore the initial brunt from the elements.
A district hospital had to be closed due to flooding, numerous roads were flooded and railway transport was also disrupted in storms since the previous day.
Images shown by the TA3 news channel showed trees that had fallen on houses, smashed garden sheds and devastated playgrounds. Some locations received as much rainfall in a few hours as they normally do in a month.
The SHMU weather service warned of further storms with heavy rainfall throughout Thursday.
Following the first heavy storms, the mayor of the south-western regional capital Nitra declared an "emergency situation" on Wednesday evening, a milder precursor to a full state of emergency.
"The damage to public and private property is extremely high," the mayor told the TASR news agency. "But at least I can say that there have been no fatalities so far and I firmly believe that this will remain the case."
According to the fire brigade, the sewerage system in Nitra was unable to cope with the volume of water. As a result, streets, cellars and lower parts of buildings there and in other municipalities were inundated, TV stations reported.
Further south, flooding paralysed the hospital in Nové Zámky, around 100 kilometres from Bratislava. Access was closed to visitors and new patients, and all operations were cancelled.
Patients who could reasonably be expected to do so were sent home, while emergency operations were maintained for the others.