WARSAW (Reuters) – One person drowned and 1,600 people were evacuated in Klodzko county in southwest Poland as local rivers broke record high levels causing flooding in several municipalities after days of heavy rainfall.
“The situation is very dramatic, it’s most dramatic in Klodzko county,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters on Sunday after meeting with the crisis management team in Klodzko town.
Some 17,000 households in the county were left without power and mobile connections were not available in some areas. Road access to the towns of Ladek Zdroj and Stronie Slaskie was practically cut off, Tusk said.Klodzko, a town of 25,000, was partly under water as the local river rose to 665 cm, well above the alarm level of 240, and surpassing a record seen in heavy flooding in 1997, which partly damaged the town and claimed 56 lives in Poland.
“I’m calling for residents to cooperate with rescue services where calls for evacuation are issued,” Tusk said.
In the historic town of Glucholazy, in neighbouring Opole province, the mayor ordered compulsory evacuation on Sunday morning as the local river started overflowing the banks.
Firefighters, local authorities and soldiers have been fighting since Saturday to protect a bridge in the town, putting cobble stones on top of the construction to make it heavier and more resilient. Firefighters have been working in south-western Poland since the start of the weekend to help contain the flooding.
More rain is forecast for Sunday and Monday, aggravating the situation.
(Reporting by Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Susan Fenton)
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