English Section

Firefighters kept busy as storms lash Poland

09.07.2021 11:30
Firefighters were called out more than 750 times as storms rolled through large parts of Poland on Thursday night and in the early hours of Friday, according to a spokesman.
Photo:
Photo:PAP/Mateusz Marek

Almost 40,000 customers were left without electricity at one point after fierce winds uprooted trees and disrupted power supplies in some regions of the country, including its southwestern Dolnośląskie province and the central region of Mazowieckie, which contains the national capital Warsaw.

A downpour in Warsaw on Thursday evening. A downpour in Warsaw on Thursday evening. Photo: PAP/Mateusz Marek

Firefighters were called to help pump water out of flooded basements and remove fallen trees from roads, Krzysztof Batorski, a spokesman for the State Fire Service, told public broadcaster Polish Radio's IAR news agency on Friday morning.

Amid severe hailstorms and heavy rainfall, the State Fire Service helped evacuate 67 people from a scout camp near Lake Powidzkie in the west of the country, Batorski said.

The Government Centre for Security (RCB) on Thursday sent out text messages alerting people in several provinces over intense rainfall and possible storms causing a risk of local flooding and power outages.

There were no reports of injuries in the aftermath of the extreme weather.

(gs/pk)

Source: IAR, PAP