City authorities ordered the closure of over 120 public nurseries, kindergartens and schools in areas in Warsaw threatened by flood on Monday morning.

Many private institutions will also not open today in buildings close to the Vistula river where a flood wave has raised the level of water over the critical 650 cm mark. Institute of Meteorology and Water Management said the level will remain dangerously high until around 08.00 CET, Tuesday.

A list of areas where City Hall has ordered the closure of public building can be found at www.um.warszawa.pl. A decision whether to carry the closure over to Tuesday morning will be made by authorities later this afternoon.

At midday on Saturday the level of the river flowing through the city was recorded at 780 cm. By midnight, last night, the level had reduced by around 30 cm. Dr. Piotr Kuzniar a hydrologist from Warsaw Technical University told Polish Radio that the river level would be safe when it has fallen to between 550-600 cm.

Even though flood levels on the River Vistula are descending in Warsaw, the Miedzeszynski dyke, also a major thoroughfare on the eastern bank, was closed just before midnight on Sunday. “The most dangerous situation was in the Praga Port district [on the east bank] where for 12 hours straight 300 firemen, 200 soldiers and 100 volunteers were active in the rescue efforts,” Ewa Gawor, head of crisis management in Warsaw told reporters last might. (pg/jb)

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