Polish firefighters log over 1,900 storm calls and evacuate 12 scout camps overnight

Nationwide emergency mobilization

Severe storms and heavy rainfall swept across Poland on the night of Friday, 21 August into Saturday, 22 August, triggering over 1,900 emergency fire service interventions by 8:00 in the morning. Operations escalated steadily throughout the night, with the State Fire Service logging 332 incident calls before midnight and an additional 777 calls from midnight into the early morning hours. Brigadier Karol Kroć stated that the storm front progressed across the country along its anticipated trajectory toward northern and northeastern provinces. Emergency crews deployed in multiple voivodeships to pump water from flooded basements, clear fallen branches, and secure damaged electrical lines. State Fire Service officials confirmed that no injuries or fatalities occurred despite the widespread disruption.

The front moved north and northeast as expected.

Regional breakdown of storm damage

Mazovia recorded the largest concentration of storm incidents, with firefighters registering approximately 600 emergency calls across the province. In the Kujawsko-Pomorskie voivodeship, emergency crews responded to 400 calls, heavily concentrated across Brodnica, Mogilno, Inowrocław, and Rypin counties. Provincial fire headquarters in Toruń noted that the vast majority of local operations involved pumping water from flooded basements, private properties, and roadways rather than clearing downed branches. Wielkopolska logged more than 180 interventions, with local emergency officers reporting flooded properties and fallen trees primarily in Słupca and Gniezno counties. In Jarocin, torrential rain caused a municipal water supply failure and localized flooding, while street flooding also hit Wrocław. Further north, firefighters in Warmińsko-Mazurskie handled over 90 calls by Saturday morning, focusing mainly on pumping floodwater in Nowe Miasto county.

Preventive evacuation of scout camps

Emergency responders organized the preventive evacuation of 12 scout camps located in forested and exposed areas directly along the path of the storm front. Eight scout camps were evacuated prior to midnight across five different regions, including two camps in Mazowieckie, two in Wielkopolskie, two in Warmińsko-Mazurskie, one in Dolnośląskie, and one in Małopolskie. Following midnight, emergency services evacuated four additional scout camps located in the Łódź voivodeship. Firefighters transferred all youth participants and adult supervisors to permanent brick buildings, successfully completing every evacuation without any reported injuries.

Participants and staff were transported to permanent buildings.

Grid outages and ongoing weather alerts

Gale-force winds and fallen tree limbs severed local electrical infrastructure, leaving approximately 19,400 households without power across the Łódź voivodeship. Blackouts centered heavily around Tomaszów Mazowiecki with 5,500 affected customers, Zgierz with 4,400, and Piotrków Trybunalski with 3,200. The provincial Crisis Management Center in Łódź recorded 90 specific interventions for broken tree limbs and isolated water pumping, confirming that the wind did not tear off roofs. In southern regions, Śląsk and Dolny Śląsk each recorded around 100 fire service interventions. Meanwhile, the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management maintained active storm warnings for southwestern Poland and issued strong wind alerts across Podlaskie, Mazowieckie, Łódzkie, Warmińsko-Mazurskie, Pomorskie, Świętokrzyskie, and Lubelskie.