Floods bring travel chaos and damage across central Europe

Widespread flooding in central and eastern Europe from days of unrelenting rain is playing havoc with rail transportation and causing more evacuations of residents as well as damage to homes and infrastructure.

Some of the worst scenes on Sunday were in southwest Poland. In Glucholazy a temporary bridge was torn away and another still under construction damaged as floodwaters raced through the town. A dam collapsed in Stronie Slaskie, isolating the town of about 6,000 people from surrounding areas.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk asked his finance minister to prepare emergency aid, and Poland will also ask for European aid. “We will not leave anyone to fend for themselves,” Tusk wrote on X, formerly Twitter.