The European Union will make billions of euros available to help central Europe recover from severe floods, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday, as she pledged support for regions that have been devastated by the deluge.

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.

On Wednesday, soldiers and volunteers in southwestern Poland were laying sandbags near swollen rivers in the Wroclaw region

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.

STORY: Bursting their banks and inundating towns - more rivers across central Europe have been unable to deal with a deadly deluge of heavy rain from the worst flooding in at least two decades.And on Monday Poland's government declared a disaster in affected areas and said that it had set aside $260 million to help victims.

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

A storm system that has wreaked havoc across central Europe brought devastating floods to the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna on Thursday for the second year in a row, forcing people to leave their homes and schools to close.