Central Europe floods: Rush to shore up flood defences amid deaths and evacuations

In Glucholazy, in Poland’s southwestern Opole region, the mayor of the town said the local river had overflowed its banks and was now flooding the town. He appealed to residents to evacuate to higher ground on Sunday.

Glucholazy resident Zofia Owsiaka, said everyone in the town was “scared” and there seemed to be “no hope of the rain stopping”.

In Krakow, Poland’s second largest city, residents have been offered sandbags for flood protection.

Speaking from the town of Klodzko, one of the worst affected areas in Lower Silesia near the Czech border, Mr Tusk said 1600 people in the district had been evacuated.

He urged other residents to cooperate with the emergency services when asked to evacuate their homes.

In the area, 17,000 people are without power, he said. In some locations, the mobile telephone signal is not working and the internet is down, so he said he had taken the decision to use Starlink satellites.

He said the first Blackhawk helicopter had been sent to the region’s capital, Wroclaw, where thousands of residents had to use the staircases of high-rise blocks because lifts were shut as a flood safety precaution, local media reported.