Is High Water based on a true story?

High Water follows the story of Wrocław’s local government and scientists facing the most destructive flood in Poland’s history. The series is now available to stream on Netflix.

On May 25, 1997, Hydrologist Jasmina Tremer sends a detailed report about an oncoming flood that will be wreaking havoc in Wrocław in the coming weeks.

Initially, the local government ignores the report after looking at the dry weather, until six weeks later, when Tremer’s report turns out to be true, forcing them to invite her to join the team of scientists that is taking care of this situation.

The scientists and local government are left to destroy flood banks and fight their own people as they try to save Wrocław from going down.

The series chronicles how some people celebrated a day of victory over the government officials by saving their lands, while some people incurred heavy losses as the flood found its way into the city center.

How much of High Water is based on a true story?

Only the characters featured in the series are fictional, who navigate their way through Wrocław’s flood. Apart from them, the events of the series are based on the 1997 Central European flood that impacted Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic.

Southwestern Poland and the northeastern Czech Republic faced heavy rainfall in the month of July 1997 due to a cyclone named Genoa Low. The flooding that began in the Czech Republic soon found its way to Poland.

Is High Water based on a true story? 1
Floods of Wrocław

High Water over here chronicles the events that took place in Wrocław. The show concludes with a message addressing the damages Poland faced in 1997.

A total of 56 people died while 40,000 people lost everything they had. The damages were estimated at 12 billion PLN. The event is deemed the second biggest disaster Poland ever faced after the Second World War.

A similar situation was with the Czech Republic and Germany, the latter of which had comparatively less loss. The governments of both Poland and the Czech Republic were criticized for not taking adequate measures.


Also Read: High Water ending explained: How people of Wrocław survived the flood?

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