Poland and Hungary suffer heavy rainfall, more t…

Poland’s State Fire Service recorded 2,200 interventions, mainly related to removing the effects of heavy rainfall, local flooding, and strong winds, according to the press spokesman of the Chief Commandant of the State Fire Service, Senior Brigadier Karol Kierzkowski.

The largest number of incidents was recorded in the Podkarpackie province (1,200), where four people were also injured, followed by the Małopolskie province (500) and the Lubelskie province (300), the spokesman said.

Kierzkowski said that firefighters were operating across the country, cleaning up flooded streets, basements and residential buildings; removing fallen trees from roads, buildings and vehicles; and securing the scenes of incidents and endangered facilities.

Nearly 800 State Fire Service and Volunteer Fire Service firefighters from the Podkarpacie region were involved in operations; the State Fire Service was reinforced by an additional 60 firefighters.

In Bratkówka (Krosno County), lightning struck a tree that fell on a building, and a person inside had to be taken to the hospital with a head injury. In Dobrynin (Mielec County), one person was electrocuted as a result of a broken power line, and in Leżajsk and Przemyśl counties, branches falling on cars injured two people.

Some 100 roofs were damaged in Małopolskie, 195 in Podkarpackie, and 28 roofs in Lubelskie.

Meanwhile, areas of Hungary are also under storm alerts. Firefighters from the disaster management department have already intervened at hundreds of locations, mainly to eliminate storm damage, Origo reports. 

Shortly before 3:00 a.m., HungaroMet issued the highest (red) alert for four counties due to severe thunderstorms. Heavy rain can cause serious damage, and professional firefighting units of the disaster management have already been alerted to hundreds of locations. Typically, the operation control centers are called due to fallen trees, broken branches, and downed wires.

One town at Lake Balaton, Balatonfüred, saw significant damage after Monday’s storm. The town’s own website reported hurricane-force winds and heavy rain that knocked down trees and damaged buildings, cars, public parks, beaches and camping areas.

One person was injured due to a falling tree, Mayor István Bóka reported. “I would like to thank the county fire department, the municipal firefighters, the Probio employees, the coastal contractors and all people of goodwill who participated in mitigating the damage,” he said. 

Ironically, just days ago, PM Orbán had promised to provide farmers with water for their crops due to the incessant drought conditions. Now, much of Hungary received substantial amounts of rainfall.

Neither Hungary nor Poland is in the clear, with heavy thunderstorms expected to continue today and through this week.

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