UNHCR assists flood survivors in southwest Poland
UNHCR assists flood survivors in southwest Poland
In southwest Poland, a young man looks out of the window at the flooded streets below. Catastrophic flooding battered central and southeast Europe in mid-September, after intense and heavy rainfall brought by Storm Boris.
Flooded buildings, streets covered with mud, destroyed furniture and household appliances scattered in front of houses, bulldozers and excavators removing mountains of debris. Hundreds of people painstakingly cleaning up after the destruction caused by a massive wave in just a few hours - this is what the reality in Bardo now.
This small town in southwest Poland suffered severe damage as a result of floods that ravaged the area in September. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and partners deployed immediately following the catastrophe to assess the situation and the needs on the ground, meeting with local authorities and those who were affected.
And Bardo is just one of the many places that were impacted. According to Polish authorities, 750 towns and around 57 thousand people have been affected by the flooding. In the 22 most affected counties in the region, the situation is so dramatic that the government of Poland declared a state of natural disaster.
In Bardo, Poland, UNHCR protection monitors talk to flood survivors to better understand their current situation and needs.
In the small village of Przyłęk, just a few kilometers from Bardo, the carers and pupils of the local orphanage experienced a terrifying ordeal in the moments before the flood. Due to the breach of its embankments, the nearby river burst its banks. 15 children – including a 10-day-old baby and his mother – had to be evacuated to safety immediately.
"We had just minutes to run away. Taking the children to the upper floors was out of the question because it would be too dangerous," says Marta, one of the founders of the orphanage.
The carers and children finally returned to their home safe and sound, but the basements and ground floor were flooded and now they will have to be cleaned and dried. UNHCR delivered hygiene kits, after learning they were urgently needed.
Back in Bardo, the water had receded, revealing a horrifying picture of destruction. In addition to many houses, the school, clinic, and social welfare center were also damaged. In the area of Grunwaldzka Street, the flood wave was almost three meters high.
"We are starting to clean up and rebuild. I hope we will be able to renovate the clinic within a few weeks, but the social welfare center will simply have to be rebuilt. For now, we are moving its services to containers," says the mayor of Bardo, Marta Ptasińska. "In addition, the flood destroyed the property of about 150 families in the commune. "
On Grunwaldzka Street, literally every house was flooded, and all the residents are busy cleaning up. Excavators are raking piles of refuse brought by the river, residents are removing flooded equipment. There will be nothing left here that will be of use. Food, furniture, household appliances, cars - they must all be thrown away.
On the wall of one of the houses there is a sign indicating the level of water that passed through during the record “flood of the millennium” in 1997 - a height of about 3.5 meters. Half a meter lower you can still see marks from the level of the most recent wave, meaning the water almost reached the ceiling of the rooms on the ground floor.
"I bought this house only five months ago. I moved here from flood prone areas hoping that I would be safer here," says the owner. "The water that came in here flooded everything. Only the sandwich and matches that I left on the table before evacuating stayed dry - because the table was simply floating around the room."
The blue plaque above the right window of this house shows the water level during a historic flood in 1997. 27 years later, during the most recent flooding, it was just half a meter lower.
“Poland quickly opened its arms to millions of Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia’s full-scale invasion of their country in 2022,” says Kevin J. Allen, UN Refugee Coordinator for the Ukraine Situation and UNHCR Representative in Poland. “Today, UNHCR and, indeed, many Ukrainian volunteers stand in solidarity with Poles ravaged by severe floods — a modest gesture in view of the historic generosity and humanitarian spirit of the Polish people.”
UNHCR, is supporting the large-scale government-led response. A truckload of blankets, sleeping bags, mattresses and personal hygiene products left a local warehouse for Ząbkowice Śląskie - a commune which suffered greatly from the flood.
"Thanks to the involvement of the authorities, humanitarian organizations and ordinary people, we already have the basic support that we urgently needed immediately after the flood wave," says Marcin Orzeszek, the mayor of Ząbkowice Śląskie. "What we need now is hygiene products, bedding and beds, and when the wave subsides, equipment, tools and construction materials."
A total of around 45,000 refugees live in the impacted areas under the state of natural disaster. UNHCR and its partners continue to monitor the situation of those living in collective accommodation centres, which also had to be evacuated. UNHCR also helps ensure that refugees receive flood alerts and information in a language they can understand.
A warehouse in Ząbkowice Śląskie, from where UNHCR emergency assistance is being dispatched to other distribution points in the region.
UNHCR humanitarian aid stored in Polish Red Cross warehouses is also ready to be sent to other regions affected by the floods, and we stand ready to continue support efforts to assist locals and refugees alike.
Flexible funding allows UNHCR to quickly adapt to changing needs and redirect aid where it’s most needed. In 2024, UNHCR received flexible funding from Australia, Belgium, France, Denmark, Ireland, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States.
