Polish PM announces $260mn in aid for storm-affected areas

WARSAW: Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Monday announced millions of dollars in aid for those in Poland hit by Storm Boris, as the toll in the country climbed to four following torrential rains and flooding.

Since Thursday, swathes of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia have been hit by high winds and unusually heavy rainfall.

“At the moment we have ensured a reserve of one billion zloty ($260 million) for places and people affected by the flood,” Tusk told reporters.

“From today, anyone affected by the flood… and here I mean through flooding, collapsed buildings, flooded garages, lost cars, losses linked to the flood… will be able to easily” claim funds, he added.

Floods claim more lives as torrential rain pounds central Europe

Four people have died in Poland from the storm, according to an updated toll Monday from police.

“We have four dead in the areas affected by the catastrophe,” Polish police spokeswoman Katarzyna Nowak told AFP, adding however that the exact causes of death still needed to be clarified.

Fourteen people have died as Storm Boris lashed central and eastern Europe with torrential rains and flooding, several more are missing and millions have been evacuated from their homes.