The mayor calls for self-evacuation. “Real risk that water will damage the bridge, overflow the embankments”

Głuchołazy is a town in Nysa County (Opole Province), where – due to heavy rainfall – there is a flood risk. For this reason, before 3 a.m. from Friday to Saturday, the services decided to evacuation of residents of several streets adjacent to the river Biała Glucholaska.

The mayor of the city, Paweł Szymkowicz, said that due to the very high water level in Biała Głuchołaska, he appealed to the residents of the city and people from towns below Głuchołazy living near the river to move to safe places as soon as possible. – Biała Głuchołaska has never been so high, and the water is still rising. There is practically no gap between the river and the structure of the temporary bridge on national road no. 40 in Głuchołazy. There is a real risk that the water will damage the bridge, overflow the embankments. Due to the terrain, if this happens, it will be able to return to its bed only after flooding Bodzanów and Świętów. Therefore, I appeal to all residents from the areas at risk to consider going to their families, friends, to a safe place as soon as possible. When the alarm sirens sound, it may be too late – said Szymkowicz.

The mayor reported that the water near Bodzanów damaged the embankments. There is a risk that the bridge structure will dam up the water and direct it to the center of the city of Głuchołazy. According to the local government official, the situation should clear up within the next few dozen hours.

Soldiers of the 10th Opole Logistics Brigade began transporting heavy equipment, including an amphibious vehicle from the 1st Engineer Regiment in Brzeg, which can be used to evacuate people and property from the threatened area.

TVN24 reporter Wojciech Bojanowski was on site. He showed the current situation in Głuchołazy. As he said on air, when it is not raining, the river flows from 2 to 4 cubic meters per second. When it rains heavily, these numbers reach about 100 cubic meters per second. In 1997, it was 240 cubic meters per second, and the current forecast is 360 cubic meters per second.

The Prime Minister also arrived at the scene. Donald Tusk. At the conference in Nysa, he recalled that “there are two bridges there, a temporary one and the one under construction”. – When I was driving here to Nysa, the water was already touching the first bridge and the water was already accumulating – he reported.

– The situation there is of course also critical, because it is difficult to even accept the consequences of the possible collapse of this temporary bridge. You don't know how the water will flow then, so we have to be very focused on Głuchołazy itself, and possibly on quick help, if necessary – he explained.

– We are still dealing with a significant exceedance of the alarm level on Biała Głuchołaska and a threat to the bridge, so this is point number one for us, the point of the greatest involvement of services and potential risk in the next dozen or so hours – Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration Tomasz Siemoniak said on Saturday before 2 p.m..