As a youngster in Poland, I used to associate June with the signs that read ‘Entering the forest is forbidden’. The woods were very dry, you see, and the risk of forest fires was too great to take any chances. We got used to these times of drought and did whatever was necessary to avoid trouble. But recently the opposite has been happening, with heavy rains bringing serious floods – the most dangerous ones happening at this time of year.
In 1997, when I had my school leaving exams, Wroclaw city centre was flooded so badly that the water level reached the first floor in part. The water soon receded and the streets had been cleaned up within few days, but two years later the marks of this calamity were still visible in many houses.
Another large town where flooding struck is Klodzko, in an area on the Polish-Czech border that is usually one of the first to be in danger. One would think that after the events of 12 years ago, the place should be well protected by now. But this isn’t the case. Just a few days ago, news reports confirmed that the dykes protecting the town are not firm enough. It’s enough to make one wonder what the town council has been doing during all this time.
It’s not the only thing that Poland’s authorities have been sitting on their hands about. Training centres for soccer teams competing in Euro 2012 are meant to be ready, if I recall correctly, by the middle of next year. We’ve just barely managed to convince Uefa that the infrastructure will be ready on time, but now we admit we need to apply for an extension of the deadline!
But I don’t have to argue that preventing a disastrous flood is more important – especially as we are now experiencing the most humid and rainy summer we’ve had since 1997. Already there are hundreds of homes, especially in the Klodzko surroundings, destroyed by water. In some villages the flood was as devastating as 12 years ago. Only a few towns seem to have learned the lesson and had their river channels deepened or diverted.
Agriculture has suffered too, and not only in flooded areas. Even in my garden, cherries became mildewed before they turned red. Here, with no angry rivers around, this is probably the worst that may happen. But towns on lakes or rivers will have to stay alert for another two or three weeks at least.
Myself, I am glad to live in a place where, for some strange reason, torrential rains and storms are something I see only on TV.
– Anna Paluch
