By Barbara Erling
WROCLAW, Poland (Reuters) -Flood defences in Poland’s third-largest city Wroclaw looked to have held firm on Thursday, after the worst floods in at least two decades ravaged central Europe this week.
The flood wave that has inundated the Polish-Czech border region since the weekend reached Wroclaw overnight, but there were no signs of serious damage.
“The urban system withstood and absorbed the main wave of the floods that have been hitting Lower Silesia and neighbouring regions for a week,” local authorities said in a statement on Facebook.
However, authorities warned that larger than usual levels of water would continue to flow through the city in the coming days and as such water might appear in parks and gardens.
Agnieszka Popow-Wozniak, 44, an infertility clinic employee who had cycled through the city, told Reuters the situation seems to be better than expected.
“There is no flooding in the city centre at the moment (…) The recreational beaches are flooded, but I think we all expected it, and I think for now everything looks optimistic.”
The army said 16,000 soldiers were helping out in the region, alongside police and thousands of volunteers.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that officers from Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) had arrested a person who had dressed up in a soldier’s uniform and falsely told members of the public that flood defences were going to be blown up.
Poland has warned citizens to be alert for disinformation about the floods.
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Wroclaw where she was due to meet Tusk and other leaders of flood-hit central European states who have asked for financial support from Brussels.
At least 24 people have died, with five dead in the Czech Republic, seven in Romania, seven in Poland, and five in Austria.
The deluge has spread mud and debris throughout towns, destroyed bridges, submerged cars and left authorities and households with a bill for damages that will run into billions of dollars.
Czech Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura said the government would provide 30 billion crowns ($1.3 billion), about 0.38% of GDP, in a 2024 budget amendment and earmark 10 billion crowns more in the 2025 to help with flood damage.
Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said most power supply should be reconnected by Friday.
To allow for weekend regional elections to go forward in the Czech Republic, a satellite connection has been setup in places where mobile signal is lacking.
In Hungary, towns were dealing with the rising Danube River, and Prime Minister Victor Orban said the water level in Budapest was expected to peak on Saturday afternoon or evening, but that it would be lower than record levels seen in 2013.
($1 = 22.5260 Czech crowns)
(Reporting by Barbara Erling in Wroclaw, Pawel Florkiewicz, Alan Charlish and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk in Warsaw, Kristina Than in Budapest, Jason Hovet in Prague, Editing by William Maclean)
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