WIDESPREAD flooding across central Europe that has forced thousands from their homes and claimed several lives has been described as a “tragedy” by a leading consular official in Jersey.
Magdalena Chmielewska, the honorary consul for Poland, said she was in tears while watching television footage of her homeland.
And she said she was looking to set up some form of relief fund to which Islanders could donate.
Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia were among the countries hit hardest by the effects of Storm Boris, which brought the equivalent of several months of rainfall within a few days.
Thousands of people were evacuated in Poland, including staff and patients of a hospital in the town of Nysa, while yesterday the mayor of Paczków in the south-west region appealed to residents to evacuate after water began overflowing in a nearby reservoir, endangering the town.
Mrs Chmielewska said she had been shocked to learn about the scale of the flooding in Poland having visited some of the affected areas while on holiday recently.
“I was crying when I was watching the television. It’s a tragic situation with so many people being evacuated, and some people losing their lives,” she said. “I visited some of these places just a couple of weeks ago and it’s hard to find words to describe what has happened.”
Initial discussions took place yesterday between Mrs Chmielewska and representatives from the Polish branch of the Caritas charity, which helped channel aid from Jersey to the people of Ukraine, many of whom were displaced into Poland after the Russian invasion of 2022.
“The aid for Ukraine was a massive success and I’d hope that we can do something similar to help,” she said. “The aid provided by Jersey was the first to arrive, and larger than what was sent by many big countries – the response from people here was magical.”
Around 3,000 Islanders supported the Ukrainian appeal, with 12 lorry-loads of aid being sent to the Polish/Ukrainian border.
Mrs Chmielewska said she would be holding further calls with Caritas and representatives of the Polish government in order to establish the best way that help could be provided.
Meteorologists have warned that the situation across the region could get worse as waters in most rivers continued to rise and further heavy rain was forecast.
There were fears that the eventual rainfall total in some areas could exceed the volumes seen in 1997, when more than 100 people were killed across central Europe.
