“We live in the hope that everything will go well,” one resident told the news channel TVN24. Prime Minister Donald Tusk attended an emergency meeting in Wroclaw. “In some places we are still in the middle of flood protection and rescue measures,” the politician stressed. After heavy rainfall, parts of the Czech Republic, Austria and Poland experienced flooding. Whole cities such as Klodzko in Poland and Jesenik in the Czech Republic were flooded and devastated. In Wroclaw in Lower Silesia, the dams that had been reinforced as a precaution held. The damage in the affected EU states runs into the billions.
More on the topic
When helpers are insulted and hindered in their work
Situation worrying
According to the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW), the situation in the towns of Glogow and Nowa Sol, which are further downstream, could become worrying. The Oder is expected to reach its highest level there on Monday morning.
In the Lubusz Voivodeship, which borders Brandenburg to the west, preparations are currently in full swing. “We’ll take every sandbag we can find,” said voivodeship president Marek Cebula to the PAP agency. MEP and former Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski was appointed government representative for post-flood reconstruction.
Clean-up work continued in the neighboring Czech Republic. In the city of Ostrava, health workers began offering free vaccinations against hepatitis A in the districts affected by the floods. Floods increase the risk of contracting this infectious disease because the water can be contaminated.
The police restricted access to the badly affected town of Jesenik in the Jeseniky Mountains. This was to prevent an uncoordinated influx of volunteers from causing chaos. The Czech state expects additional expenditure of up to 1.2 billion euros this year due to the natural disaster. Insurers estimated the insured losses at the equivalent of around 670 million euros.
