Rising rivers threaten southern Poland as flooding recedes elsewhere in Central Europe

Soldiers and volunteers in southwestern Poland laid sandbags on Wednesday near swollen rivers around the city of Wroclaw 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 that began last Thursday. Authorities have reported 23 deaths, with seven each in Poland and Romania, five in Austria, and four in the Czech Republic.

The floods in Central Europe, combined with deadly wildfires in Portugal, serve as joint proof of a "climate breakdown" that will become the norm unless drastic action is taken, the European Union's head office stated on Wednesday.

The fourth death in the Czech Republic was reported on Wednesday, when police found the body of a 70-year-old woman swept away by floodwaters on Sunday in Kobyla nad Vidnavkou, near Jesenik, a region severely affected by the flooding.

Weather conditions have improved, with warm and sunny skies in the Czech Republic, Poland and elsewhere. Water levels are falling in some areas, allowing authorities and residents to begin cleaning up debris.

Firefighters in Poland are pumping water out of flooded streets and basements. In Romania, about 1,000 firefighters are working across the country to clean up severely affected areas, according to a Facebook post by the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations.

However, some areas remain under threat, particularly in southwestern Poland.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk held crisis meetings in Wroclaw with local officials and rescue services, urging protective measures and assuring that his government will assist those affected. Floodwaters are expected to crest late Wednesday, with high water levels likely to continue for many hours, even days.

Soldiers and residents in Marcinkowice, near Wroclaw, laid sandbags near a bridge over the Olawa River, which flows into the Oder, the major river that rises in the Oder Mountains in the Czech Republic and runs north through Poland to Germany.

Artur Piotrowski, the community leader of Olawa, described the situation as difficult. He told the Polish state news agency PAP that two villages in a low-lying area have been flooded since Monday, and residents have refused to evacuate.

Thousands of Polish soldiers are in action, evacuating people and animals – including dogs and horses – from flood-affected areas and distributing food and drinking water. The army also announced on X on Wednesday that it has set up a field hospital in Nysa after patients in a local hospital had to be evacuated earlier this week.

Additionally, soldiers are building a temporary bridge in Glucholazy to replace one washed away by the flooding.

Residents in another flood-damaged town, Stronie Slaskie, have appealed to Tusk to send someone to direct the cleanup and recovery efforts, claiming the situation is chaotic and inefficient.

Experts are preparing for flood threats due to the cresting Oder River in Opole, a city of approximately 130,000 residents, which seems to have avoided major flooding, and in Wroclaw, home to about 640,000 residents, which experienced disastrous flooding in 1997.

(Cover: A café is damaged after high floodwaters passed through the town of Nysa, southwestern Poland, on Wednesday, September 18, 2024. /AP)