Central Europe rushes to shore up flood defences amid evacuations

In Glucholazy, in Poland’s southwestern Opole region, firefighters piled up sandbags as residents were evacuated.

A similar effort is taking place in Krakow, Poland’s second largest city, with residents offered sandbags for flood protection.

Glucholazy resident Piotr Jakubiec said he had prepared sandbags and pumps to divert the water but that it was “impossible to predict what’s going to happen”.

“This is the second time in my life that I’ve seen such a phenomenon. It’s a nightmare for the people who live here,” he said.

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

In the city of Wroclaw thousands of residents had to use the staircases of high-rise blocks because lifts were shut as a flood safety precaution, local media reported.