Severe weather in southern Poland has left around 30,000 residents without electricity after strong winds uprooted trees and tore down power lines.
The recent storms, marked by heavy rain, hail, and powerful gusts, have caused significant damage across the region, particularly affecting the facades of residential and farm buildings.
Since Thursday evening, firefighters have been actively responding to the storm’s aftermath. Senior Capt. Marcin Bajur, spokesman for the State Fire Service in Kielce, reported, “We have routinely had more than 2,000 interventions across the country, and on the territory of the Świętokrzyskie, these interventions were more than 200.”
Most incidents occurred in the Lesser Poland, Silesia, and Lublin Voivodeships. Local authorities described flooding of properties, basements, and low-lying areas, alongside fallen trees blocking roads and damaging infrastructure.
Marek Jamborski, Mayor of the Municipality of Kocmyrzów-Luborzyca in Lesser Poland, described the situation: “We have very extensive damage. And it affects municipal buildings, and in private houses, and in roads, broken trees, and flooding. So the work to do is very, very much at the moment.”
Experts note that approximately 10% of Poland’s population lives in flood-prone zones, with climate change expected to increase the flooding risk for homes by up to seven times.
Last September, severe floods claimed at least nine lives in southwest Poland, according to police reports.
On Friday, the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management issued first-degree storm warnings covering most of the country, including southern Lower Silesia. The alert warned of storms with hail and wind gusts up to 85 km/h. Additionally, a second-degree heat warning was issued for part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship in the southeast.
