Government announces emergency aid for flood victims in Southern Poland

The government has pledged nearly zl.300 million in financial assistance to the victims of the flooding in recent days in areas of Southern Poland bordering the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Under the government aid program, each family affected will receive zl.6,000. The government has also set aside a total of zl.100 million to help farmers who have lost their crops. Currently, a flood emergency has been declared in nine voivodships, and flood alerts are in effect along sections of the Vistula and Odra rivers as they pass through the cities of Krakow and Wroclaw. The heavy storms that broke out at the beginning of this week are forecast to continue until Friday, threatening further flooding. (Reuters, Gazeta Wyborcza, pp. 1, 4) M.T.