Warsaw Battles Flood
The atmosphere has been tense in Warsaw as flood waters continue to threaten defences across the city. What began as a long spell of heavy rainfall in southern Poland has grown into was become a national crisis, as flood waves travel up waterways threatening villages and towns and leaving many under water. Tens of thousands have been forced to evacuate and twelve have been killed by flood waters since last week.
The Vistula river in Warsaw rose high above emergency levels this weekend, though they are now slowly descending. The Praga area on the eastern bank of the Vistula river was most at risk and the nearby Warsaw zoo was nearly forced to evacuate - a difficult situation considering it would not be possible to relocate all animals and many would have had to have been killed. On Sunday it took 300 fireman, 200 soldiers, and 100 volunteers, working continuously over 12 hours, to successfully secure the Praga port area. Luckily, no residential areas in Warsaw have been hit so far.
While the flood levels are now descending, Warsaw has closed many public buildings this week including kindergardens and schools. To check if your district is still at risk head to http://www.um.warszawa.pl/.