Flooding overwhelms Polish communities, 14 dead

Tensions remain high in Warsaw, where some 120 schools and kindergartens were shut and one major thoroughfare was closed due to flooding risk. Floods may end between May 30 and June 6.

By Dominika Maslikowski and Jacek Lepiarz

Warsaw (dpa) May 24, 2010 -- Floods overwhelmed 18 Polish communities in a region some 100 kilometres north-west of Warsaw Monday, after part of a protective flood barrier broke the day before near the town of Plock.

The death toll had risen to 14, police said, as flooding that began last week in southern Poland spread to the rest of the country.

An area of 8,000 hectares was underwater near Plock, flooding an area with some 4,000 inhabitants and 5,000 animals. Around 2,000 had been evacuated, officials said Monday.

There were concerns that 10,000 residents of the towns of Gabin and Slubice could also be threatened by floodwaters from the river Vistula, said Ivetta Bialy, spokeswoman for the central Masovian province.

About 800 cubic metres of water a second were pouring through the breach at Plock, officials said. The opening, initially 50 metres long, had stretched to 200 metres.

A dyke along the Vistula was blown up Monday in a controlled explosion meant to divert waters and prevent a flood barrier from leaking in the nearby village of Dobrzykow, central Poland.

The armed forces were securing that flood barrier with concrete blocks and rubble, said Defence Minister Bogdan Klich during a trip to the region. Citizens, along with firefighters and soldiers, were also at work reinforcing the barriers after water reached the first layer.

Interior Minister Jerzy Miller said the situation along the Vistula was more difficult than expected because of the great length of the wave that raises water levels and causes the flooding. In some parts, the wave takes up to six days to pass a given region, Miller added.

Tensions also remained high in Warsaw, where some 120 schools and kindergartens were shut and one major thoroughfare was closed due to flooding risk.

Water levels in Warsaw would lower Wednesday morning to 6.5 metres - the alarm level -- the interior ministry said. The floods would end between May 30 and June 6, if there was no more heavy rain, the ministry added.

Some 4,200 soldiers taking part in rescue efforts throughout the country, army officials said.

The Vistula's levels have receded since Sunday, but dykes remain under threat of collapse due to the continuing water pressure.

Copyright: dpa