Floodwater reservoir becomes Poland’s hero for preventing major flooding

Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Grateful Poles are heaping praise to honor their silent hero that just saved them: a floodwater reservoir that spared the cities of Opole and Wroclaw from imminent flooding that ravaged parts of Central Europe. “King of Gold” and “Raciborz Reservoir the Great.” Some social media entries even suggest that the Lower Raciborz Reservoir floodplains should be named after Poland’s famous goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. Located on the Oder River, the anti-flood reservoir was built following lesson from the 1997 “Flood of the Century” that devastated the two cities. It passed the test by effectively flattening the Oder’s giant flood wave as torrential rains inundated Central Europe this month.