“There was a crisis fiancée, there are flood brides”

– Emotions went with the water. All dreams, but also problems, arguments, everything that was boiling, went away – says Anna Gdowik.

She opened a wedding dress salon in 2016. She collaborated with designer Małgorzata Szymkowiak. She says that sewing skills were passed down to her in her genes. Her grandmother was a seamstress, among others. Mrs. Anna graduated from tourism, but dreamed of taking up sewing. She managed to get a job as an assistant in a wedding salon, and eventually opened something of her own.

The shop was located on the ground floor of a tenement house on Śląska Street. Nearby flows an almost dried-up stream, a little further, beyond the tracks, is the Nysa, into which all the mountain rivers flow. For a long time it seemed that the situation was not under control. Last Thursday, the District Office in Kłodzko informed that “at the moment there is no threat in the entire Kłodzko district”.

– I got lots of alerts on my phone, I saw the water rising. The rain wasn't heavy, but it was constant. When I went out to the garden, I was standing ankle-deep in a puddle. After this drought, the ground couldn't absorb the water. These are mountainous areas, where they cut down trees, the water flows into the city along with all the mud – explains Mrs. Anna.

When the levels in both rivers were equal, the salon owner knew things were bad.

At one point, a neighbor from the store next door came running to White's salon. – She said: “Girls, I'm packing, I'd rather pack ten times over than lose everything,” Anna Gdowik recounts. The city was already tense, someone was saying that the water would flood the PKS building. – It seemed to us that everyone was exaggerating, but we decided to prepare just in case.

The owner of the salon and her friend packed dresses for collection, some that had already been fitted for the first time. They also took away the machines. They secured some of the equipment in the shop. – We moved the furniture to the mezzanine, put the sofa on a shelf, and put the beams of fabric under the ceiling. We were convinced that it would be enough – says Mrs. Anna. – Unfortunately, everything was washed away by the water. It's a high place, but the wave reached a level of three meters.

It was similar in 1997. The owner of the premises, when showing it to Mrs. Anna, said that the water was “up to the fan”. There was a 30 cm strip of plaster left from the ceiling, the rest had to be chiseled down to the brick. – We said to ourselves that it was an unimaginable amount of water. It turned out that this time there was just as much. It means that the wave itself was much higher, because after all, protection measures had been introduced and reservoirs had been built – says Mrs. Anna.

Anna Gdowik found a wreck in the showroom. She says the interior looked as if someone had thrown the appliances and other items in the store into a blender. Everything was covered in a layer of mud.

– Looters are already starting to move around, and the water has broken the window – he says. – On Sunday, when we came to see what was left of the store, we saw a lot of people walking around. Not gawkers, but people who look into the premises and see if there is anything they can take.

Mrs. Anna wanted to buy the premises, she was in the process of taking care of the formalities. As she says, she put all her savings into renovating it and adapting it to her needs. Now she plans to move the salon.

– I won't stay here. I can't look at what happened there – she says. – I can still see the image of the crushed, destroyed things, covered in mud. We opened the door to the back and I didn't even want to take anything. I can still smell the stench. It was like a fire. We hid some things in crates, they were flooded, but the mud didn't get there. When they turned on the electricity, we turned on the washing machine right away. But even after washing, the things still stink. We were left with nothing.

The owner lists the losses: these include materials for future collections and mannequins. – No one will give us back this investment. We will definitely get the money from insurance, but I will not show the invoices for the mannequins I bought eight years ago. I simply do not have them anymore – says Mrs. Anna. – Large companies will quickly get back on their feet, they have savings. I ran sole proprietorship. I can't imagine having to pay now Social Insurance Institutiontaxes, pay electricity bills.

But she's not giving up. Mrs. Anna jokes that she'll be working remotely. She took the machines home. – At 9 p.m. on Tuesday, we picked up a wedding dress for a client from Wrocław. We met at a friend's apartment. The mirror was much smaller than in the salon, but we managed somehow. The client is worried because the flood wave is now heading to the capital of Lower Silesia. Lady Pank sang about a “crisis bride,” and now we have flood brides – she says.

– I have the work in my hands. Water won't take it away from me – adds Anna Gdowik.

And she encourages all brides to place orders. Despite the lack of a salon, the designers announce that they are ready to work. Now, this is what they need most.