Poland declares state of natural disaster in areas of flooding

The Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, says the decision will facilitate evacuation operations and expedite financial support for victims.

Transcript

00:00Poland declared a state of natural disaster after heavy flooding killed at least five

00:06people.

00:09The Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says this will facilitate evacuation operations

00:14and expedite financial support for victims.

00:17I called this meeting to take the decision as soon as possible to introduce a state of

00:25natural disaster.

00:26I turned to the Ministry of Finance and now we have a reserve for the needs of people

00:33trapped in the water, currently worth a billion zlotys.

00:37Evacuations as a result of the widespread flooding also took place in the Czech Republic,

00:41Austria and Romania.

00:44The majority of the Czech Republic was impacted by the heavy rain and authorities declared

00:49high flood warnings in roughly 100 places.

00:53The Oder River that flows to Poland reached extreme levels in Ostrava, the third largest

00:59Czech city.

01:01Many parts of the city were under water and centers have been set up for those who had

01:05to evacuate.

01:08Meanwhile Hungary braces itself for the rainfall.

01:12Locals helped fortify some of the most threatened areas.

01:16The mayor of Budapest warns that the capital faces what could be the biggest flood of the

01:20decade.

01:21The Hungarian Interior Minister Sander Pinter confirmed that 12,000 troops were on standby.