Lądek Zdrój cut off from the world. “Water, which in 1997 barely reached the market square, was now much higher.”

Already on Saturday, the mayor of Lądek-Zdrój, Tomasz Nowicki, informed that the situation in the city and the commune villages had become so difficult that in the evening he ordered the evacuation of some residents and their property, including livestock. “There is no point in waiting any longer, the Biała Lądecka River has burst its banks and is flooding our streets and roads like in 1997. It can only get worse with each passing hour, so it is worth using the help of the firefighters and evacuating. The situation is difficult not only in the city, but also in Radochów and Trzebieszowice, because these villages are also flooded,” he informed on Saturday evening. When it seemed that the situation was slowly starting to stabilize. Something happened that no one expected.

The tvn24.pl journalist spoke to Ms. Olga, who witnessed what happened in Lądek-Zdrój over the weekend. – The situation seemed okay for a while. I arrived in Lądek on Friday from Wrocław. There was no alarming information, there was no sign anywhere that the river was rising much. However, it was raining quite heavily, especially at night, and information about the dam in Stronie Śląskie began to appear, but there was nothing on the websites that would suggest that things could be so serious – Ms. Olga described to us. – Late in the evening, there was no water or electricity for a while. Then it went back to normal. It seemed okay, but around 1 a.m. things started to get worst, because I saw in the report that the dam in Stronie was leaking and we lost electricity. In the morning, alerts came that residents of the areas around Biała Lądecka, Lądek, Kłodzko would be evacuated, but I generally live upstairs, so I wasn't too concerned. When I woke up, there were no media, no communication at all – no internet, no way to call anyone – she added.

– In the morning I went to the market square – because I live on a hill, so if it flooded us, Lądek would not exist – my first surprise was that the water, which in 1997 barely reached the market square, was now much higher. This wave was going down Ogrodowa Street – a wave that literally carried cars and everything it could take with it – trees, bins, a lot of garbage, various waste and of course also a lot of mud – reported Mrs. Olga. – A river literally flows through the market square. When I was leaving the city, a helicopter was flying and picking up people who were lower – she described. The resident waited for about three hours and decided to leave the city, via the viaduct, which was previously blocked. – They unblocked this viaduct, because the water started to recede from 2 p.m. and now I am on the A4 motorway – the woman summed up after 6 p.m.

As reported by residents on social media, the rushing water that passed through Lądek-Zdrój symbolically carried away a very important figure of St. John of Nepomuk, perched on a stone bridge, whose history dates back to the 16th century. “My heart is torn. Nepomuk from the St. John's Bridge in Lądek-Zdrój carried away by the furious waters of the Biała Lądecka,” wrote one of the residents.