Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has pledged support for people hit by heavy rains, extreme weather, and flooding in the south of Poland.

After a crisis management meeting in one of the hardest-hit areas in Poland, the village of Głogoczów in Małopolskie province, the Prime Minister promised to “do everything to help in the cleanup effort” and try “provide help as soon as possible.”

Dozens of residential buildings were flooded in Głogoczów, and several other villages in the area after local rivers and streams broke their banks amid heavy rains during the weekend, according to reports by Poland’s official press agency (PAP).

This past weekend alone, firefighters were called out more than 2,500 times to deal with the aftermath of thunderstorms and intense rainfall in various regions across Poland, according to Krzysztof Batorski, a spokesman for the State Fire Service.

Weather forecasters have warned of further storms and rain in various parts of the country this week, posing a flood risk to people and property.

Source: Radio Gdańsk, Radio Poland

Police are calling for swimmers to exercise caution after eight people drowned over the weekend as residents took to lakes, rivers, and the Baltic Sea to avoid the heat.

Four of those who drowned on Saturday were swimming in areas of Pomerania, including a 50-year-old man who drowned in Kąty Rybackie, a 59-year-old Ukrainian man who was pulled out to sea near Krynica Morska, and a 53-year-old man from Warsaw who was pulled from the Baltic by rescuers near Sobieszewo Island.

According to police officials, the men were all reportedly swimming in areas under warning due to high tides. A 19-year-old also drowned in Puck over the weekend, and the search is still ongoing for a 21-year-old who went swimming in the sea in Jastrzębia Góra on Saturday.

According to officials, alcohol is among the main causes of swimmers drowning in Poland, and deaths most often occur in bathing areas not patrolled by lifeguards. Swimmers are advised to swim only in designated places, never enter the water after drinking or intoxicating substances, and wear a life jacket while on boats, kayaks, or other water transport.

Source: Radio Gdańsk, Radio Poland

The National Museum in Warsaw has reacquired a number of artworks recently recovered after going missing in World War II.

The recovered works include the pastel painting “Lady in Peacock Feathers” by Teodor Axentowicz, a painter, illustrator, and graphic artist who was one of the leading representatives of the Young Poland art movement inspired by Polish folklore.

In addition to the work by Axentowicz, the National Museum also acquired five of eight original illustrations by Michał Elwiro Andriolli for the novel Maria by Antoni Malczewski.
Andriolli was a Polish painter and architect of Italian descent born in 1836. He is best known for his illustrations for the Polish national epic Pan Tadeusz by Adam Mickiewicz and the distinctive “Świdermajer” style of architecture.

Axentowicz’s work was believed to be destroyed during the war, and recovering the work of both artists took almost a decade due to complicated legal procedures, according to Poland’s Culture Minister Piotr Gliński.

The latest acquisition by Warsaw’s National Museum is yet another example of efforts to recover valuable works of art from Polish collections that went missing during WWII.

Source: Radio Poland

An oak tree has been planted in the Botanical Gardens of Kaunas, Lithuania’s second-largest city, to honor the late Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki.

Last week’s ceremony on brought together representatives from several Lithuanian cultural institutions, including the director of the Kaunas State Philharmonic, Justinas Krepšta, the composer Giedrius Kuprevičius, and officials from the Polish Institute in Vilnius.

Penderecki, who was known for works such as Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima and Polish Requiem, died in March last year. He had made many visits to Lithuania and conducted his own music there on numerous occasions.

The Penderecki memorial oak at the Botanical Gardens in Kaunas is part of a symbolic lane commemorating famous Poles that also features an oak dedicated to President Lech Kaczyński, who died in a 2010 plane crash in western Russia; a beech tree in tribute to Tadeusz Kościuszko, a national hero in Poland and the United States; and roses named after Romantic composer Fryderyk Chopin.

Source: Radio Poland

Weather

Today will again be mostly sunny with a light breeze coming in from the west and very little chance of rain. Temperatures will peak around a high of 22°C, or 72°F, cooling off overnight with a low of 16°C or 60°F. Sunny, warm weather should continue throughout tomorrow, with a chance for rain again on Wednesday.

EPeck/ua