Polish flood of 1934 () was the biggest

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

in the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

. It began with heavy rains in the

Dunajec The Dunajec (; Goral dialects: ''Dónajec''; ) is a river running through northeastern Slovakia and southern Poland. It is also regarded as the main river of the Goral Lands. It is a right tributary of the Vistula River. It begins in Nowy Targ at ...

river basin, which took place between 13 and 17 July 1934. In the following days, the flood spread to the basins of the Raba,

Wisłoka The Wisłoka is a river in south-eastern Poland, and a tributary of Vistula River. It is long and has a basin area of . Its highest elevation is , while the lowest point in the valley of the river Wisłoka lies at an elevation of above sea ...

, and Skawa, all of which are tributaries to the

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

. The disaster took the lives of 55 people and caused damages estimated at 60 million interbellum zlotys.

The flood

The first heavy rains took place on 13 July 1934, and it continued during the coming days, with more than of rain noted on 14 and 15 July. Peak of the rainfall was marked on 16 July, with heaviest rains ever recorded in the Dunajec basin. On that day, of rain fell in the village of Witów, and in Kuźnice—. On the same day, Polish record of rainfall was broken in Tatras valley of Hala Gąsienicowa, where were recorded. Even though the Dunajec basin was the most affected, heavy rain was also recorded in the basins of the Skawa, and the

. Combined rain of two days (16 and 17 July) amounted in some locations to more than . According to contemporary sources, some areas looked like giant seas, with only the chimneys of houses peeking above the water. Levels of the rivers which have their sources in the Tatras and the Gorce Mountains rose immediately, and on 19 July the flood wave, swollen by excessive waters of the tributaries, appeared on the Vistula near

Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; , ) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (), situated on the Vistula River near its confluence with the San, in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy ...

. Due to pressure of the water, levees were broken, and thousands of acres of fields were covered in water. At the same time, this caused the flood wave to decrease, and by the time it reached

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

(22 July), it was much smaller than expected, and did not inflict much damage in Poland's capital.

Effects

Altogether, the water flooded , killing 55 people. Damaged or destroyed were 22,059 buildings, of roads, and 78 bridges. The damages were estimated at , or more than 60 million interbellum zlotys. As a result of the catastrophic flood, two reservoirs were constructed on the Sola, and the Dunajec. The Porąbka dam was finished in 1936, but the engineers didn't complete the Rożnów dam before the outbreak of World War II; the dam was completed by the Germans in 1941.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Photo gallery of the 1934 flood in the area of the village of Czorsztyn
Second Polish Republic 20th-century floods in Europe 1930s floods 1934 natural disasters Natural disasters in Poland History of Lesser Poland July 1934 in Europe 1934 disasters in Poland