2010 Central European floods

2010 Central European floods

Floods in Gliwice, Poland
Duration:	May–June 2010
Fatalities:	37
Damages:	Unknown

The 2010 Central European floods were a devastating series of weather events which occurred across several Central European countries during May, June and August 2010. Poland was the worst affected. Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia and Ukraine were also affected.

At least thirty-seven people died in the floods and approximately 23,000 people were evacuated. The city of Kraków declared a state of emergency.

The floods forced the closure and relocation of items from the Auschwitz concentration camp museum. On 20 May, aid began arriving to Poland from several European Union countries.

Contents 1 Poland 2 Hungary 3 Fatalities 4 Recovery 5 Gallery 6 See also 7 References

Poland

The floods caused the death of at least twenty-five people. Approximately 23,000 people were evacuated and the estimated economic cost was 2.5 billion euros.^[1] Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk informed the Sejm that ongoing flooding was "the worst natural disaster in the nation's history ... without precedent in the past 160 years".^[2][2][3]

Two months worth of rain poured down over one twenty-four hour period.^[4] In the Czech Republic, the heaviest rain for eight years was reported.^[4] The floods forced the closure of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.^[5] Museum staff relocated important artifacts to higher ground as floodwaters approached.^[4] Kraków, a popular attraction with tourists, announced a state of emergency.^[4] On 18 May, due to the high level reached by the Vistula river in Kraków the Dębnicki bridge, located in the center of the city, was closed. The Nowohucki bridge was also closed.^[6]

The flooding lasted for a number of days, and escalated on 20 May when the Vistula River broke its banks and spilt into the town of Sandomierz. This caused residents to be stranded in their homes while power outages affected telecommunication.^[7] The Vistula basin had its last major flood in 1997 but is not considered as bad as the current flooding.^[3]

The flood alert was also declared in Wrocław where the level of the Oder river on 22 May reached 665 cm in Trestno.^[8] The housing estate district Kozanów in Wrocław was flooded after a temporary anti-flood sandbag wall was broken.^[9]

On Sunday 23 May the Wisła river broke a retaining wall and flooded Świniary near Płock, and other near villages like Szady, Wiączemin Polski, Nowy Wiączemin and Nowosiodło. In total 22 villages in the Płock area have been either flooded or are facing imminent flooding. Around 4,000 people and 5,000 animals are being evacuated with many more facing a similar fate.^[10][11] In Płock the street Gmury was flooded.^[11]

In the Lublin Voivodeship the river Chodelka flooded in the Gmina Wilków and 800 people had to be evacuated.^[12] 23 villages in the area are already flooded with 4–5 meters of water and the situation continues to worsen through Sunday 23.^[13]

During the May floods at least 6,200 households in the Małopolska region alone were fully or partially flooded and 12,000 people were affected by it. Numerous other places in Poland are flooded too.

On 2 June, in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the flood alert was again announced on the terrain of Kraków and Tarnów and the Bochnia, Brzesko, Dąbrowa, Sucha counties, and in 8 gminas. 12 rivers exceed the alarm condition in 14 places, and warning states were exceeded by 11 rivers on 21 places. On 4 June the railway bridge between Nowy Sącz and Stary Sącz was broken by the river Poprad. At least 3 people fell from the bridge into the rushing waters. According to some reports their fate is still unknown while other say they managed to save themselves.^[14][15] The Poprad river also flooded the town of Muszyna. On 5 June the Vistula flooded the Gmina Szczucin and around 3,000 people had to be evacuated.^[16][17]

In the Silesian Voivodeship the flood alerts were again announced in the Bielsko, Bieruń-Lędziny, Cieszyn, Gliwice, Pszczyna, Racibórz, Wodzisław and Żywiec counties, and also in cities of Bielsko-Biała, Gliwice and Zabrze. In the Lublin Voivodeship, the flood alert was announced on river-side gminas.

In the Subcarpathian Voivodeship the river Ropa flooded the town Jasło on 5 June.^[18]

The part of the city of Sandomierz (located in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship) which lies on the right side of the Vistula, and which was already flooded in May, has been flooded again from 3 June by the Trześniówka river. The city is also under threat by the Vistula river which reached 770 cm level, over 100 cm passed the alarm level.^[19][20]

Hungary

In Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, Northern Hungary eighteen towns and villages were cut from the outside world by the flood of the rivers Sajó, Hernád and Bódva. More than 480 people had to leave their homes.^[21] In Miskolc the Szinva flooded the Diósgyőr district of the city during what was described by locals as "the biggest flood since 1975".^[22]

Several roads became unusable, the border checkpoint of Sátoraljaújhely/Slovenské Nové Mesto was closed on June 1.^[23] In Pásztó (Nógrád county), a local reservoir threatened with overflow; the earthen dam was strengthened by sandbags. 2000 people had to leave their homes. Houses would be under 4 m water within seven minutes of the collapse of the dam.^[24] A short part of Motorway M1 collapsed near Győr.^[25]

Fatalities

On 17 May, the death toll reached five people.^[4] Four of these were in Poland and included a fireman.^[4] The other, an elderly woman, was in the Czech Republic when she drowned.^[4]

On 21 May, the death toll in Poland had reached at least nine people with the whereabouts of three others being unknown.^[26] On 24 May the death toll in Poland was 15 confirmed dead.^[27]

The flood claimed several casualties in Hungary too: a man, whose house collapsed on him, died in Miskolc^[28] a woman died and two other persons suffered injuries in a car crash in Fejér county, where a car slipped on the flooded road; also in Fejér county a tree fell during the heavy rain, hitting a man who suffered life-threatening injuries.^[29]

Country	Deaths
Poland	25[30][31]
Austria	3[32]
Serbia	2[33]
Hungary	2[34]
Slovakia	1[35]+2[36]
Czech Republic	1[37]+1[36]
Total	34

Recovery

Poland asked for assistance from other European Union nations.^[3] They came to the rescue from 20 May onwards, with France, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, as well as the Czech Republic, despite that country being affected by the floods too.^[3] On 25 May 2010, Poland received help also from Russia (including 18 high-power pumps, 34 boats and 5 mobile power stations)^[38].

Gallery

See also

• 2010 Romanian floods
• 2010 Slovenia floods
• 2010 Var floods
• European floods: 2002, 2005, 2006, 2009
• European Flood Alert System
• Floods directive
• Global storm activity of late 2010
• Global storm activity of early 2010

References