Storm of the Summer

If anyone in central Krakow was awake, or God forbid outside, last night at around 1:30 am, they probably got a good scare, and possibly a good soaking if not an injury. Even those who managed to sleep through last night's massive storm probably noticed the damage this morning, as fallen trees littered the Planty and other parks all over town.

According to Gazeta.pl, in all of the Malopolska voivodship, about 200 houses lost their roofs, cars were smashed in Kazimierz, and several tram lines were blocked as a result of fallen trees and debris. Even this morning there was standing water around the city centre, as the drainage couldn't handle the large amount of water that fell in such a brief period of time last night. Unfortunately, the biggest disaster happened at Wawel Castle, where water seeped into the royal tombs. Standing water is being cleaned up from the area of the tombs, as well as several trees that fell around the castle, one of which crushed the car of the castle's vice-director.

Meanwhile, after the storm Krakow is returning to the usual calm, with trams running normally this afternoon and traffic flowing again, despite several intersections whose lights have been reduced to blinking yellow by the storm. Smashed windows and other damage is being cleaned up, and we can only hope that this was the last storm of its kind this summer.