NYSA, Poland (Reuters) – 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. As central Europe faces devastating floods, Poland responds to floods with urgency. #PolandRespondsToFloods
Rivers were still spilling banks in the Czech Republic, while the River Danube was rising in Slovakia and Hungary, and flooding has also affected Austria.
The Czech-Polish border areas are among the worst-hit, with gushing, debris-filled rivers devastating towns and collapsing bridges. Additionally, these floods have destroyed houses and caused significant damage throughout the region.
Poland has declared a state of disaster in the area and set aside 1 billion zlotys ($260.38 million) for flood victims.
Overnight, volunteers assisted rescue workers by moving sandbags to reinforce the damaged embankment around Nysa. This town of 40,000 in southern Poland faced urgent flood protection efforts.
Some residents were looking to check homes after evacuations were called on Monday.
“We had to escape, even though we have several floors,” 45-year-old resident Sabina Jakubowska said.
“At this point, it looks calm, the sun is shining, people are still crossing the bridge … we’ll try to go home too. But the water is still there on our street.”
National fire chief Mariusz Feltynowski reported to Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Wroclaw that the Nysa embankment was sealed. Military helicopters joined the effort, dropping sandbags to reinforce the area. Poland responds to floods with robust defenses and strong coordination with local authorities. #PolandRespondsToFloods
Historic Wroclaw, with 600,000 residents, was preparing for peaking water along the Odra (Oder) river. Its zoo called for volunteers to help pack sandbags to protect grounds, although animals were kept safely from flood zones.
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