In an interview with the portal DoRzeczy.pl, Mayor of Głogówek Piotr Bujak gave a bleak assessment of the situation of the flooded town in the south of Poland: “The water is receding from the entire commune, revealing the enormity of the losses and destruction. The most affected were properties, mainly private ones. We have several hundred houses that were flooded. The roads are damaged, including the national road, we have damaged sports fields and damaged municipal infrastructure. The sewage treatment plant, renovated for several million zlotys, was also flooded. The system is paralyzed and the scale of the losses is huge.”
The mayor told the portal that he estimated potential losses in the hundreds of millions of zlotys. One hundred million zloty is the equivalent of 23.4 million euros.
When asked about building a retention reservoir in Racławice Śląskie, which the mayor has been promoting, he said that such an investment will “not only save Głogówek, but the entire area where other cities and municipalities are located. We are not appealing anymore. We are demanding the construction of this reservoir.”
He then added that on the Government Legislation Centre website, there is an intention to amend the Odra Revitalisation Act, in which this reservoir project “disappears.”
Again reiterating the demand for the reservoir be built, he said that “the Osobłoga River floods not only Głogówek, but also the areas from Racławice Śląskie to Krapkowice. The construction of the reservoir can save this area.”
The Odra Revitalisation Act, ratified by the Polish president back in the summer of 2023, came in response to the impact of toxic golden algae in the Odra River from industrial pollution. Hundreds of thousands of fish reportedly died, and this act was to appease environmentalists and repair the damage. However, environmental groups protested the act as it stood, as, according to Euronatur, the work planned, including the much-needed reservoir noted by the mayor, may bring “potentially devastating and compounding consequences.”
Citing Fridays For Future Poland, the site says, in particular, that the act will “create artificial reservoirs, and disrupt natural river balance.” No word yet if the group has maybe changed their stance in the wake of the flooding.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Donald Tusk is taking heat, as residents claim authorities are not doing enough and other reports indicate local authorities were completely helpless because the scale of the crisis exceeded their ability to manage the situation.
In the town of Stronie Śląskie, which was devastated by the flood, residents and local media unanimously report that the situation in this town was not even this bad during the “Great Flood of 1997,” which incidentally involved the drainage basin of the Odra River becoming inundated.
“There was no one here, the police only just arrived. It was empty, people came and cried. We have been alone since Friday,” flood victims from Stronie Śląskie told TVN24, according to Salon 24.
“The services are sitting on the sidewalk and don’t know what to do. We ask that someone be sent here to deal with crisis management,” said another resident.
Tusk wrote on X that a change in command had been effected and hundreds were already on the ground to help in Stronie Śląskie alone.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz also announced that soldiers from Poland’s Territorial Defence Force (WOT), including operational and engineering troops, and the required heavy equipment were in the town, assuring residents that “the army will be here as long as it is needed.”
