photo - east news

Over 42,000 people were affected by the floods in the south-east region of Podkarpacie, preliminary estimates show.

Nearly 15,000 households and 73,000 hectares of land in the Carpathian mountains have been flooded over the last two and a half weeks. Over 40 percent of the town of Tarnobrzeg and one third of Jaslo were under water. About 6,000 animals, including 5,500 poultry drowned.

According to the Regional Centre for Crisis Management in Rzeszow, after the main wave the level of water in the Vistula River is slowly declining. In minor rivers such as San and Wisloka water has already fallen below emergency level. In Sandomierz the Vistula subsided to 6.62 metres. However, flood alert is still valid in seven counties.

Warsaw after the wave

All night, several hundred inhabitants of Warsaw, including fire fighters, were reinforcing the Zawadowski embankment in Dolny Mokotow, as it began to leak. Within tens of minutes 30,000 sand bags were laid on the embankment to protect the nearby area from flooding and residents from being evacuated. The Vistula River is slowly declining. Now it stands at 7.49 metres.

Plock awaiting peak wave

The central city of Plock is preparing itself for the main wave on the Vistula River, which is expected to hit the city tonight reaching 7 metres. Inhabitants of Slubice and Gabin counties are being evacuated and in Dobrzykowo an embankment is being built from 250,000 of sand bags to protect Plock against the flood. If the embankment proves insufficient, an additional rampart, built on the road leading to Plock, is supposed to dam the water. (mg)