Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced the security measures after some people refused to obey evacuation orders over fears of looters.

During a meeting of a flood crisis management team on Monday, Kosiniak-Kamysz, who is also a deputy prime minister, urged residents of disaster-stricken areas to obey evacuation orders. He also said food and water would be delivered to those who had not moved out.

To allay the fears of those reluctant to leave their homes, he said: “Military police in cooperation with police will be patrolling the evacuated areas, and all cases of theft will be severely punished."

Meanwhile, Donald Tusk, the prime minister, announced emergency regulations banning people from flood defenses, private broadcaster Radio Zet reported.

The evacuation orders were issued amid a “state of natural disaster” that has been declared in several regions and will remain in force for a month.

‘Flood tourism’ menace

The crisis management team heard from the governor of the southwestern Opole region that “flood tourism” had become a problem, with people travelling to flood barriers to take photos. She said this hampered the work of the emergency services and was also dangerous.

Tusk said that following the crisis meeting, necessary legal decisions would be taken to ban people from flood-threatened areas.

“That is why we introduced a state of natural disaster,” he was quoted by the state press agency, PAP, as saying. “Because under this regulation we have the power to impose a ban on people being on the levees, apart from those there on duty.”