1934 flood in Poland ( pl, Powódź w Polsce, 1934) was the biggest

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( 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 an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

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 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...

. 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 t ...

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, a tributary of the Vistula river, with a length of and a basin area of . The highest elevations reach an elevation of , while the lowest point in the valley of the river Wisłoka lies at an ele ...

, and

Skawa Skawa (german: Schaue) is a river in southern Poland, a right tributary of the Vistula. It originates in the Western Carpathians (Beskids), is long and drains . It passes several towns: Jordanów, Maków Podhalański, Sucha Beskidzka, Wadowice ...

, all of which are tributaries to the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

. 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

, 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 The Gorce Mountains ( pl, Gorce ) are part of the Western Beskids mountain range spreading across southernmost Poland. They are situated in Małopolska Province, at the western tip of the long Carpathian range extending east beyond the Dunajec ...

rose immediately, and on 19 July the flood wave, swollen by excessive waters of the tributaries, appeared on the Vistula near

Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; la, Sandomiria) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (as of 2017), situated on the Vistula River in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy Cross Prov ...

. 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 ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

(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 Flood in Poland, 1934 Flood in Poland, 1934 Floods in Poland History of Lesser Poland July 1934 events 1934 disasters in Poland