There was no one here, the police only just arrived. It was empty, people came and cried. We have been alone since Friday – the residents of Stronie Śląskie affected by the flood told a TVN24 reporter. – There were reports that the dam was leaking, but there was no one to load sandbags – they said.
Water has devastated Stronie Śląskie in Lower Silesia, where a dam burst on Sunday. Residents of the town are counting their losses after the flood. On Tuesday, a TVN24 reporter spoke to two residents whose home was destroyed.
– You can't get into the house or even onto the property. Fortunately, the whole family is safe – said one of them.
– When the flood started, I tried to get there to take my children, my granddaughters, but unfortunately I couldn't. My daughter took them away only tonight, because only then was there a chance to get out of here. I had no contact with them at all during all these days. My father-in-law, daughter, children, grandchildren, the whole family lived here and there was no contact with anyone – said another resident.
“We've been alone since Friday”
– There was no one here. The police only just showed up, no one knows where they all came from, a helicopter. And here it was empty, people were coming, crying, they just don't know what to do with themselves – said the injured party.
Residents of Stronie Śląskie complained that there was a lack of help from the services in their area. – We have been alone since Friday. There were reports that the dam was leaking, the dam was bursting. (…) There is nothing here, there was no one here. There was no one to load sandbags here, there were no bags here. Residents wanted to load sand, but there were no bags – they reported.
– We started fighting first, because the water started to rise. My husband has an excavator, we still had some of our own material, we started loading it into bags and setting up a bank to defend the houses below – said a resident of Stronie Śląskie.
WATCH LIVE: Flood in Poland. Special issue