Mayors of Stronie Śląskie and Lądek-Zdrój removed from crisis management. They comment: it will make it easier for us to get up from our knees

The flood-damaged Stronie Śląskie (Lower Silesia Province) is being cleaned up. The huge damage is visible to the naked eye, as shown on air by a TVN24 reporter. Residents point out that although there are many people willing to help, there is no one to coordinate the work. Losses in the city are estimated at over a billion zlotys.

– On behalf of Stronie Śląskie and the residents of Stronie Śląskie, ladies and gentlemen, dear Prime Minister, this city is not ready for crisis management, the city authorities are not ready for crisis management, these authorities have never experienced anything like this. Other authorities experienced this years ago. I don't know what it is like in other communes, but we need specialists here who know how to manage crises. The services are sitting on the sidewalk and don't know what to do, because no one is managing them – said Ms. Katarzyna on TVN24.

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She also appealed to local governments “not to be afraid to admit that they simply cannot cope”.

– They are cut off from the world, they also have no way of communicating, the phones do not work, the internet does not work. We kindly ask you to send someone here who deals with crisis management, who will be able to tell them where to go, what to do, how to help, because it is chaos here, no one knows what to do – said Mrs. Katarzyna. – It is certainly convenient to manage from a comfortable armchair, but we need someone who will come here and help the city authorities manage this – she added.

In many places in Stronie Śląskie there is still no water or electricity. – Some residents have not left their homes yet because they are afraid – said Mrs. Katarzyna.

Prime minister Donald Tusk informed on social media about further military units reaching Stronie Śląskie and Lądek-Zdrój. He also provided information about taking over crisis management in both towns.

“Senior Brigadier Michał Kamieniecki took over crisis management from the mayors of Stronie and Lądek. More military units are arriving in both communes. In Stronie alone, there are already over 600 of them,” we read in the entry.

Senior Brigadier Michał Kamieniecki is the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship Commander of the State Fire Service.

Dariusz Chromiec, the mayor of Stronie Śląskie, told “Fakty po Faktach” that the services had reached the city. – There were initial talks. At 8 p.m. we have a meeting of the municipal crisis management center. We will discuss rescue operations together – he emphasized.

The mayor added that crisis management was already underway in Stronie Śląskie on Sunday. – We had permanent shifts. The actions were carried out from the very beginning. Now we are reinforced by state services – admitted Dariusz Chromiec.

After the meeting with Senior Brigadier Kamieniecki, the mayor of Lądek-Zdrój, Tomasz Nowicki, is also here. – This is already happening. We met with the Senior Brigadier. For several days I have been appealing for logistical support. This support was provided to us in this form. If this will improve the activities and make the residents more comfortable in safety, then this is a good decision. We have been working here for several days, often all night long, and we are physically exhausted. Physical exhaustion can result in difficult, irrational decisions, so if we can get help from professionals experienced in crisis management, then nothing better can happen to us – admitted the mayor of Lądek-Zdrój.

– We are primarily concerned with coordinating actions. The scale of the needs is so huge that the modest, official composition of our crisis team should receive support. This will make it easier for us to get back on our feet now. We will have to get back up from the ruins – he added.

As Tomasz Nowicki noted, when uniformed services appeared, the residents' sense of security increased.

– It was very difficult for us when we were cut off from the world in terms of communication and teleinformatics. We had to do our best to communicate so that our drama would reach everyone. Small towns will not win against large urban agglomerations. Large cities have much greater media appeal. That is why we did everything we could to make the drama of small towns heard everywhere. If it resulted in the appearance of services, then these appeals were effective – said Tomasz Nowicki in “Fakty po Faktach”.

In turn, another guest of the program – Paweł Szymkowicz, the mayor of Głuchołazy – noted that the construction of a temporary bridge in the city will most likely start on Thursday. – The engineering troops have settled on the construction site – he confirmed. He added that “there are a lot of problems, but the biggest one is the lack of water”.

– The flood destroyed the waterworks, and above all the main water intake. Rebuilding it will not be easy, however. It is possible that it will be necessary to cut down part of the forest in order to even deliver the engineering equipment there – said Paweł Szymkowicz in “Fakty po Faktach”.

The head of the Ministry of National Defense visited Stronie Śląskie on Wednesday Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz. – We have just met with local government officials from Stronie Śląskie, those who have been fighting for their residents for many, many hours. There are 600 soldiers in Stronie Śląskie, these are WOT soldiers, operational troops, engineers, sappers. Various types of heavy equipment are arriving and have already arrived, roads are cleared – assured the Deputy Prime Minister. He added that the services are also helping people clean their apartments and houses.

– The army will be here as long as it is needed. We were here at the most difficult moment, on Saturday, at the mayor's call – said Kosiniak-Kamysz. – We will not leave here, the Polish Army will not leave here for many weeks – he added.

The mayor of Stronie Śląskie, Dariusz Chromiec, was also present at the conference. He said that around 50 people have not been able to return home.

– If we are talking about multi-family housing and the blocks that are on the estate, then here we already have preliminary indications that there may be a return to the renovation of these buildings – he said. – I am focusing more on single-family buildings that are not suitable for living and will have to be demolished – he added.

During the meeting of the crisis team in Wrocław, the head Ministry of Interior and Administration Tomasz Siemoniak announced the suspension of some of the powers of the mayors of both communes in Kłodzko County, which suffered the most during the flood. The person authorized to issue orders regarding crisis management and removing the effects of the flood is Senior Brigadier Michał Kamieniecki.

– After consulting with the Chief Commander of the State Fire Service, I have appointed General Brigadier Michał Kamieniecki as the person who will perform duties in these two communes. We need strong command. We need to streamline the work of the commune offices. This is not a commissioner. This is a person who comes there to effectively manage. Together with the governor, we are convinced that this will be in cooperation with the mayors. I appeal to all employees, officials of both communes to unconditionally obey the scopes specified in the decision and the instructions of Brigadier Kamieniecki. The mayors elected in the elections, when we decide that this is the moment, will return to their full duties in accordance with the laws – assured Tomasz Siemoniak.

On Tuesday, the deputy mayor of Stronie Śląskie, Lech Kawecki, told TVN24 reporter Jan Piotrowski that the city had been completely destroyed. “The police station is gone, some of the buildings are to be demolished. I don't know if we'll recover mentally from this,” the deputy mayor said.

– The riverbed has split into two parts, we are now fighting to return the river to its original bed. Here, where the water flows, is a section of Nadbrzeżna Street, there you can see a fragment of it. There is also no trace of the intersection with Mickiewicza Street. The main intersection in Stronie – Mickiewicza with Nabrzeżna Street, is simply gone – said the deputy mayor. Many buildings will have to be demolished. He added that he does not know what is happening to their residents.

– We do not know how many people have been injured. As for the buildings, some of them are currently suitable for demolition, the technical condition is being assessed – informed Lech Kawecki.

The Deputy Mayor gave a preliminary estimate of the potential losses caused by the flood in the city.

– At the beginning we estimated the losses in hundreds of millions of zlotys, now we are talking about over a billion. There is another problem, a mental problem, whether we will recover from this. There are real voices of people here who ask themselves whether it is still worth coming back here, whether it is worth living here, these are really human dramas – emphasized Lech Kawecki.

The accounts of the inhabitants of Stronie Śląskie were commented on on TVN24 by Col. Łukasz Andrzejewski-Popow, General Counsel to the Chief of General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces.

– The military is in those places where it is needed the most. Sometimes it may look from the civilian perspective (actions – ed.) completely uncoordinated, but it is as coordinated as possible – he assured. – We support all people in this system, but taking into account the priorities that are most important to us and to the civilian population – he added.