Residents of Polish town hit by flood hope to make homes liveable by winter

STRONIE SLASKIE, Poland - As water receded in Stronie Slaskie, one of the areas worst-hit by massive floods in south-west Poland, residents and volunteers began clearing up in hope their homes would be liveable before the onset of winter.

Parts of the mountain town of 5,000 people were swamped when a dam burst last weekend during Central Europe's worst floods in more than two decades that have caused billions of dollars of damage and killed at least 24 people.

Miroslaw Wegrzyn, 67, who has been running the "Ice Cool" ice cream shop for 30 years, said the water came above the top of his door. When it receded, he found the building full of mud among dislodged machinery and hundreds of ice sticks.

"A wave almost three meters in front came here and when the dam broke, it swept everything away," he said, adding he was not insured and did know if he would rebuild the shop.

The floods swept away homes and cars, leaving streets covered with mud, rubble and debris.

"We have to rebuild. Slowly rebuild and wait for the weather to be good and for winter to come as late as possible", said Grzegorz Ukrainski, 42, a businessman from a city to the northeast, Opole, who volunteered to help clean up in Stronie Slaskie.

-Reuters