Polish authorities Wednesday declared a flood alert in the country's
south following torrential rain that inundated a vast swathe of the
country and cut off roads. Rescuers were busy pumping water out of
hundreds of homes in the southern Upper Silesia region, particularly in
the hard-hit city of Czestochowa, a statement by the local fire brigade
said. Several rivers also overflowed in the Krakow and Rzeszow areas in
the southeast, cutting off roads, television news reports said. But
Krakow regional authorities quoted by the Polish PAP news agency
declined to order evacuations, pointing to "moderately optimistic"
weather forecasts. In June 2006 southern Poland was ravaged by a wave of
flooding forcing the evacuation of hundreds of farms. In the summer of
1997 Poland was hit by the worst flood in living memory which claimed 54
lives, forcing the evacuation of more than 160,000 people and caused
billions of dollars in damage in the southwest.

by Staff Writers
Prague (AFP) June 24, 2009

High floodwaters turned hundreds of homes into death-traps late
Wednesday in the Czech Republic, with police fearing the toll could rise
after reports that a woman drowned in the east of the country.

"Some people are facing a direct threat. They have been trapped in their
houses," said regional police spokesman Ivo Mitacek, the CTK news agency
reported.

"We have saved several lives -- of people trapped in cars on flooded
roads. We have also rescued several people from houses," he added.

Hundreds of houses were flooded and dozens of people were evacuated in a
region which was hit by devastating floods in 1997 that claimed almost
50 lives.

The woman drowned in a flooded river as heavy rains fell. "I don't know
her identity. I can only confirm she has drowned," regional ambulance
spokesman Lukas Humpl was quoted as saying.

He added that the ambulance car whose doctors tried to resuscitate the
woman became stuck in the flood and could not move from the spot.

The floods had also prevented doctors from getting to a woman who was
giving birth, he said.

The floods closed several roads and people in some towns are using boats
to move around their places, the public-service Czech Television said in
a newscast.

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites