The streets of Cracow began to disappear under floodwater yesterday after a week of torrential rain and storms that have killed 11 people and left huge areas of central and southern Poland submerged.
A woman and her seven-year old child died when flood waters washed their house away. Her husband and 13-year-old son survived by clinging to another piece of the house.
In Warsaw a young couple were killed by lightning as they sheltered under a tree on Wednesday, according to police.
Heavy rains have caused dozens of small rivers to burst their banks, and the resulting floods have damaged roads, railways and buildings.
At least 10,000 people, mostly in rural areas, have been made homeless, said Mr Witold Maziarz, a spokesman for the national firefighting service.
The Vistula river, which runs around the Cracow old town, is now swollen with rain and in danger of bursting its banks.
Authorities say the old town is not in immediate danger, but workers have surrounded the river banks with sandbags, and authorities have ordered additional metal supports to be installed on the city's dikes.
Some 3,000 firefighters and rescue workers toiled through the night to evacuate at least 8,500 residents in flooded southern villages. Helicopter crews picked up families stranded on their rooftops by rising water in the village of Budzow, about 220 miles south of Warsaw.
People were last night anxiously watching and waiting for the rains to stop, as the weather forecast has predicted.
Initial estimates put the cost of damage in the worst-affected region at over £50 million alone. The Polish Prime Minister, Mr Jerzy Buzek, has pledged 200 million zloty (£42 million) in aid to areas affected by the flooding.
"What we need now, though, is immediate help," he said. He has already approached the World Bank for assistance, according to Polish radio.
