Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has declared a state of emergency because of the floods in the southern part of the country, announced this on his page on the social network X (formerly Twitter), quoted by News.bg.
"After consultations with the competent ministers and services, I commissioned the preparation of an order of the Council of Ministers to introduce a state of emergency," wrote Tusk.
Rising water levels are observed in the Silesian and Lower Silesian Voivodeships in the south and south-west of Poland, due to the overflowing of the Nysa River after heavy rains. Bridges were destroyed in some areas, and evacuation by helicopters began in a number of settlements.
Due to the bad weather, classes were suspended in more than 350 kindergartens and schools in four voivodeships. The floods are believed to be the worst since 1997. Two people died as a result of the disaster.
The heavy rains also caused flooding in Austria, the Czech Republic and Romania. In particular, in the Czech Republic, flooding is the result of prolonged rainfall that has continued in the southern part of the country since September 12.
Due to the bad weather, about 260 thousand houses remained without electricity, and the rescue services evacuated about 1.9 thousand residents. Rail transport in the Moravian-Silesian region was almost completely disrupted.