Polish Firefighters Battle Floods to Save Hospital

In the city of Elbląg, firefighters scrambled on Tuesday to keep floodwaters from the surging Kumiela River from reaching the municipal hospital after the river broke its banks while residents were asleep.

Severe Flooding Across Northern Towns
The flooding in Elbląg has already destroyed streets and made many areas unreachable. In the nearby town of Tolkmicko, floodwaters rose to as high as 1.5 meters, inundating homes near the town's port. Rescue and containment efforts are underway by response teams, it added.

Firefighters dealt with some 3,000 flood-related interventions across Poland as a whole on Monday, according to Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński. He said that while the two most lethal nights were behind them, there were several areas that needed to be closely watched. The situation appears to have calmed after intense efforts in southern Poland's Silesian region.

In the Warmian-Masurian voivodeship, where Elbląg and Tolkmicko are located, the situation is still tense. In the Pomeranian region, in Nowy Dwór Gdański, crews are working to pump water out after what officials termed "very, very significant" rainfall. Kierwiński pointed out that the weather tends to change very quickly in the area and that recent years have seen more "crazy" weather, making it difficult to predict what's going to happen.

Floods are Disrupting Travel and Impacting Neighboring Countries
Poland Infrastructure Minister Dariusz Klimczak said more than 400 passenger trains had been delayed during the past 24 hours because of the extreme weather. The flooding follows a potent Genoa low-pressure system — a weather pattern that usually forms south of the Alps — that brought heavy rains to vast swaths of Central and Eastern Europe from Sunday.

Outside of Poland, the flooding has affected neighboring countries. In the Czech Republic, rivers have swollen, and at least three people were killed by flash floods that Sunday night and Monday, which washed away homes, Romania reported.

With emergency services still in action, the Polish authorities are asking residents in affected regions to stay on their guard and adhere to safety orders as unpredictable weather continues.