The “Great Water” in July 1997 will forever be a nightmarish memory for many residents of Poland and Europe, a time when they lost everything. In our country alone, the flood cost the lives of 56 people. The water caused damage worth PLN 12 billion – it destroyed almost 700 thousand apartments, and tens of thousands of people lost all their belongings. A particularly difficult situation occurred in Wrocław.
Photos from flooded towns and villages are moving reminders of how people heroically fought against the great flood.
Photo: Onet
The flood of July 1997 was caused by a low pressure that reached Poland from the south. In the first ten days of July, heavy rainfall lasting many hours occurred throughout Central Europe. rain. Rainfall totals in many places reached 200–300 mm, and locally exceeded 500 mm, which is the rainfall norm for several months.
Flood in Wrocław
As a result of the downpours, there were sudden surges in the rivers and their floods, primarily in the Oder basin. Cities such as Kłodzko, Racibórz, Opole, Wrocław, Kraków, Głuchołazy were flooded. The situation was particularly difficult in Wrocław, where a large part of the city has been under water since July 12. The water levels in the rivers recorded in the Oder basin significantly exceeded the highest recorded so far.
Another wave of heavy rainfall which led to another floodcame after July 15.
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As a result of the flood, 114 people lost their lives, 56 of whom in Poland. Animals that could not be saved also died, including in the Opole zoo.
In Poland alone, losses amounted to PLN 12 billion, and over 40,000 people lost their life’s possessions. Almost 700,000 apartments were damaged, and water damaged or destroyed a total of 2% of the country’s area.
The flood in 1997 was so huge that it is still called the “flood of the millennium”. It should be remembered, however, that in 2010, during the May flood, the hydrological situation in the Vistula River basin was much worse than in 1997.
