Polish government announces state of emergency due to massive floods, another dam burst
Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland, announced a natural disaster emergency on 16 September due to massive floods throughout the country. He noted that a billion zloty would be allocated from the reserve for the needs of the people affected by the floods.
"I convened this meeting in order to adopt the decree on introduction of the state of emergency due to a natural disaster as soon as possible," he said to Polsat News.
Tusk stated that a detailed list of counties and communities, in which this state will be announced, will be presented in Wrocław where the meeting of a crisis headquarters is going to be held soon. The conditions and consequences of the state of emergency will also be explained.
"In our decree, in the provision about the state of natural disaster emergency, there is such a tool as an order about evacuation but, as I mentioned yesterday, we will only use it in case there is a direct threat to people’s lives," Tusk said.
The draft of the decree by the Council of Ministers, a state of emergency will be implemented in flooded districts for 30 days. The decree only provides for "necessary" restrictions of rights and freedoms, including an order about evacuation and the ban on staying in certain places.
Paulina Hennig-Kloska, Minister of Climate and Environment of Poland, stated on 16 September that the implementation of the state of natural disaster "would help mobilise more funds and resources for eliminating the consequences of the floods".
The authorities had to announce immediate evacuation of a part of the town of Paczków in Lower Silesia in the southwest of Poland due to a bursting of the dam between the Topola and Kozielno water reservoirs.
"I have just been informed about an immediate evacuation of a part of Paczków. The mayor adopted this decision because, sadly, the dam at the Topola water reservoir had burst," – Daniel Palimąka, head of the town of Nysa, said.
"The water is flowing very intensely so [we] have to think about the lives and health of locals," he added.
This is the second burst of the dam in Poland. As a result of the flood the dam burst on the Morávka River in the settlement of Stronie Śląskie, which was immersed under water and cut off from the outside world.
There is information about at least three fatalities in Poland's southwest, Czechia’s east and Lower Austria.
Hungary is preparing for a big flood on the Danube River, the Hungarian part of which will soon host the incoming water from other central European countries.