2010 Central European floods
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| Date | May–June 2010 |
|---|---|
| Deaths | 37 |
| Property damage | Unknown |
The 2010 Central European floods were a devastating series of weather events which occurred across several Central European countries during May and June 2010. Poland was the worst affected. Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia and Ukraine were also affected.
At least thirty-seven people died in the floods and approximately 23,000 people were evacuated. The city of Kraków declared a state of emergency.
The floods forced the closure and relocation of items from the Auschwitz concentration camp museum. On 20 May, aid began arriving to Poland from several European Union countries.
In Poland, the floods caused the deaths of at least 25 people, the evacuation of approximately 23,000 people, and an estimated economic cost of 2.5 billion euros. Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk informed the Sejm that ongoing flooding was "the worst natural disaster in the nation's history ... without precedent in the past 160 years".
Two months' worth of rain poured down over a 24‑hour period. The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum was closed and important artifacts were moved to higher ground as floodwaters approached. The city of Kraków announced a state of emergency. Due to the high level of the Vistula river, Kraków's Dębnicki bridge, located in the center of the city, and the Nowohucki bridge were closed on 18 May.
The flooding lasted for a number of days, and escalated on 20 May when the Vistula River broke its banks. In the town of Sandomierz, residents were stranded in their homes while power outages affected telecommunication. The 2010 flooding was considered more severe than the last major flood, in 1997.
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