2024-09-15 11:19 update: 2024-09-16, 11:10
Photo PAP/Maciej Kulczyński
Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, has described the situation in south-western part of the country as dramatic 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 the Klodzko Valley, in the Klodzko county, south-western Poland," Tusk told reporters on Sunday after meeting with the crisis management team in the town of Klodzko.
The prime minister called on residents not to ignore the existing threat and not to refuse evacuation.
Tusk also said that the first Black Hawk was to reach the city of Wroclaw soon and that Medical Air Rescue helicopters would also be at disposal if needed. "I hope this will not be necessary but we have to be ready for any possibility," he said.
The prime minister said that due to the lack of communication in some areas, including the lack of the mobile network and the internet, it had been decided to use the Starlink system in order to make it easier to conduct rescue and evacuation operations.
"But we cannot hope that we will be able to immediately restore regular communication," he added.
Many households in the Klodzko 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.
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.
More rain is forecast for Sunday and Monday, aggravating the situation. (PAP)
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