Imperilled Polish town battles to save dyke as flood waters close in

In south-west Poland, communities were rallying on Tuesday morning to combat severe flooding threatening the town of Nysa.

Located about 90 kilometres south of Wrocław, Nysa is at risk as the Nysa Kłodzka river nears the brink of breaching a crucial dyke protecting the town centre.

Throughout the night, local residents joined forces with the army and fire brigade to fortify the weakened dyke with sandbags.

"There were about 2,000 people on the dyke: women, men, children and senior citizens," Mayor Kordian Kolbiarz told radio station Rmf.fm.

People had formed a human chain to transport the sandbags, he said.

In the major city of Wrocław, a crisis management meeting convened with Prime Minister Donald Tusk to address the escalating situation.

The Polish government has declared a state of natural disaster in affected areas to streamline authority and enforcement of emergency measures.

Tusk said that there were currently contradictory forecasts by meteorologists as to when the floodwaters could reach the city of Wrocław.

While initial predictions suggested the Oder river's waters would reach the city by Wednesday, recent updates now indicate a potential delay until Friday.

However, this still needs to be analysed in detail, Tusk said.

During the flooding of 1997, one-third of Wrocław was inundated.

At least four people have died from the floods in Poland so far.