Firefighters kept busy as storms lash Poland
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
20.07.2018 11:00
Firefighters were called out almost 1,500 times as storms rolled through large parts of Poland on Thursday and Friday, according to a spokesman.
Photo: PAP/Grzegorz Momot
Most of the emergencies were in the country’s southern and central regions, Paweł Frątczak, a spokesman for the State Fire Service, said on Friday morning.
Firefighters have been kept busy pumping water out of flooded basements over the past two days, and they have also been patrolling flood dikes, securing houses with sand bags and removing fallen trees, Frątczak said.
Strong winds have damaged the roofs of at least 10 buildings, including eight residential ones, he added.
The State Fire Service has helped evacuate a total of 480 people from scout camps in various areas of the country during the last two days, according to Frątczak.
Firefighters have attended nearly 3,000 call-outs over the past two days, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
A number of trails in Poland’s southern Tatra mountains have been closed to hikers after heavy rain turned normally quiet streams into torrents.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR