Over two weeks without gas. “I have the impression that the gas company did nothing”

The city of several thousand inhabitants and the pearl of Polish health resorts was flooded after a dam burst in Stronie Śląskie located above. Around noon, the great flood devastated the city and destroyed very important elements of infrastructure, including gas infrastructure. Since September 16, the inhabitants of Lądek-Zdrój have not had gas.

– Our network in this place was simply destroyed. The bridge to which our gas pipeline was connected was also destroyed. Currently, the most important task carried out by PSG services in Lądek-Zdrój is work on the construction of a river crossing to replace the damaged section of the gas pipeline over the Biała Lądecka River. It will be located on a newly built pylon in such a way as to minimize the risk of interruptions in gas supplies in the event of another flood – explains Grzegorz Cendrowski, spokesman for Polska Spółka Gazownictwa, in an interview with tvn24.pl.

According to the spokesman, restoring gas supplies after network repairs is complicated and time-consuming. – First, PSG services must repair the network that was damaged by flood or heavy equipment. In Lądek Zdrój, our network was also flooded. We must first identify where water is entering the gas pipeline and pump it out. Only then can we start the process of connecting customers, which consists of three stages: turning off the main taps at all consumers, gassing the network and visiting each customer again to resume gas supplies, he explains.

Last week, the gas company delivered an LNG station to Lądek-Zdrój to supply gas to two centers with approximately 2,000 gas stations. soldiers removing the effects of the flood, but the remaining residents still have no gas.

– Here, a lot was achieved in two weeks, but I have the impression that the gasworks did nothing. I was at the crisis team meetings every day, the waterworks were present every day, Tauron was present, but the lady from the gas company appeared only once and said that the situation was difficult. Until today, there was no information from the gas company – says Maciej Sokołowski, director of the Mountain Festival in Lądek-Zdrój.

Local governments, charitable organizations, companies and private individuals support flood victims. Some of them help residents cope with the lack of heating and gas. – As a mountain festival, we help residents and have already distributed over 1,300 heaters of various types. We also distributed 300 electric stoves and sleeping bags and this is how the residents of Lądek-Zdrój cope – he adds.

Students from primary schools and high schools in Lądek-Zdrój have to sit in cold classrooms, because both facilities are also heated by gas.

– The high school was not damaged, the primary school was largely destroyed by the flood. If gas returns to the high school, there will be no problem, we turn on the furnaces and that's it. If it does not return, we will have to heat with some eclectic heaters, at least until the gas returns, says Lidia Achrem, director of the Public School Complex in Lądek-Zdrój, in an interview with us.

According to the principal, water entered the school, causing extensive damage.

-When it comes to the primary school, the situation is much more serious, where the gas boilers were completely destroyed because the basements in which they are located were flooded up to the ceiling. There, the entire installation and infrastructure needs to be replaced and completely overhauled. Currently, I have arranged the lease of an oil boiler room for the primary school, which comes on a trailer and will be connected to our radiators until the entire boiler room is renovated, we will have to use it for heating so as not to crack the walls – she explains.

However, the element caused the most damage to the residents. For some people, the lack of gas not only makes everyday life difficult, but also makes it impossible to run their own home business activities.

– My apartment was absolutely flooded and there will definitely be no gas on these streets very soon. I won't be able to live in the apartment at all for the foreseeable future. My neighbors also live in tenement houses without gas and we don't really know when it will be connected, the installation was destroyed. I also have a guesthouse that was not flooded, but because there is no gas in it, it cannot function. This is a very big problem. On the one hand, my apartment is flooded, so I have nowhere to live, on the other hand, I have absolutely no source of income – explains Karolina Szamborska, a resident and owner of a guesthouse in Lądek Zdrój.

– Most likely, on Wednesday, October 2, the gas pipeline will be launched, which will allow us to start restoring gas supplies to additional residents. We initially estimate that by the end of the week we should restore gas supplies to more than half of the customers in Lądek-Zdrój. Work to restore gas to all customers may take a maximum of about 4 weeks – informs Grzegorz Cendrowski.

On Wednesday, October 2, the gas supply will be interrupted at Brzozowa Street, Graniczna Street no. 13 to 24 and Wolności Street.

In a week, on October 9, blue fuel is to appear in the streets of: Broniewskiego, Cicha, Fabryczna, Gwiaździsta, Jagiellońska, Kłodzka, Kościuszki to no. 28, Kościelna, Konopnicka, Krótka, Mickiewicza, Miła, Ogrodowa, Polna, Powstańców Wlkp., Rataja , Rynek, Składowa, Spacerowa, Staromłyńska, Firefighters, Śnieżna, Węglowa, Zdrojowa.

In two weeks, i.e. on October 16, it is estimated that the gas will be turned over at the following streets: Cienista, Graniczna from no. 1 to 12, Jadwigi, Kopernika, Kosmonautów, Leśno, Lipowa, Marzeń, Maria Curie-Skłodowska, Nadbrzeżna, Ostrowicza, Orla, parkowa, Przechodnia, Słoneczna, Słowackiego, Wolności, Zamenhof, Zamkowa, Żwirki, Zwycięstwa pl. Marianski and Wigury.

At the streets Bema, Fiołkowa, Gerberów, Klonowa, Krokusów, Kościuszki from no. 30, Łąkowa, Makowa, Niezapominajek, Paderewskiego, Stokrotek, Storczyków, Wiejska, Widok, Wiosenna, Wrzosowa, pl. Partisans' estimated date for restoring gas is October 23.