Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia as a result of Storm Boris, causing what one local official described as a “catastrophe of epic proportions,” the U.K.’s The Guardian reported.

The death toll regionally had risen to 16 by Monday, The Guardian said, with six of those fatalities being in Poland and another six in Romania.

In Poland, a state of natural disaster was declared shortly after a dam in the country’s southwest was breached, sending a deluge towards the nearby town of Paczków.

Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, expressed solidarity with Poles in their hour of need, and the deputy chair of Ukraine’s parliament said the country stood ready to deploy personnel and equipment.

‘Moving’ gesture by Kyiv

Shmyhal’s Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk, posted on the X platform on Sunday that the head of Ukraine’s government had “expressed immediate readiness to send 100 rescuers with specialist equipment to fight the flood. Moving.”

A spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (DSNS) told Poland’s state press agency, PAP, that Kyiv had offered assistance but was still awaiting an official request from Polish authorities.

In addition to Poland, Kyiv has also offered assistance to Romania, Moldavia, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, PAP reported.

Ukraine’s recently appointed foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said on social media he had offered help to the countries at the behest of the president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in coordination with Shmyhal, the Kyiv Independent reported.

"Unfortunately, there are also critical situations in our neighboring countries due to these extreme rains," Ukrainian press agency Ukrinform quoted Zelenskyy as saying in his nightly TV address on Sunday.

“On my instructions, Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, has offered assistance from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine to the affected countries in our part of Europe."