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PM pledges help as Poland cleans up after gales

26.06.2021 09:30
Poland’s prime minister has pledged support for households hit by fierce winds and extreme weather in the south of the country.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki talks to reporters during a visit to Librantowa, a village in southern Poland where gales damaged many homes.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki talks to reporters during a visit to Librantowa, a village in southern Poland where gales damaged many homes.Photo: PAP/Grzegorz Momot

Dozens of families were affected when a line of storms with strong winds rolled through parts of Poland earlier this week, snapping trees, damaging roofs and disrupting power supplies.

In the villages of Librantowa and Koniuszowa in the country's southern Małopolskie province, an apparent twister damaged a total of 60 buildings, including 30 homes, public broadcaster Polish Radio reported.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday his government would provide each affected household with special financial assistance of up to PLN 200,000 (EUR 44,300, USD 53,000) to help renovate homes damaged by the gales "as soon as possible."

In each case, assistance will "depend on the amount of the estimated losses," he added as he visited Librantowa in the aftermath of the damage.

Librantowa, a village in southern Poland where an apparent twister damaged many residential buildings.  Photo: PAP/Grzegorz Momot

Powerful winds, heavy rains and hailstorms wreaked havoc in Poland's central Mazovia region, Lubelskie province in the east as well as the Silesia coal mining region and Małopolskie province in the south on Thursday and in the early hours of Friday, officials have said.

Krzysztof Batorski, a spokesman for the State Fire Service, told Polish Radio’s IAR news agency that the gales had destroyed the roofs of around 860 buildings nationwide.

Fierce winds leave a trail of destruction in the village of Librantowa near the southern Polish town of Nowy Sącz. Ferocious winds leave a trail of destruction in the village of Librantowa near the southern Polish town of Nowy Sącz. Photo: PAP/Grzegorz Momot

Three people were slightly injured, including one person who was hit by a torn-off roof near the southern town of Nowy Sącz, state news agency PAP reported.

(gs)

Source: IAR, PAP, polsatnews.pl