Wrocław is prepared for the flood, but prepared does not mean safe
Bogdan ZDROJEWSKI
Wrocław is prepared for the flood, but of course prepared does not mean safe. It is important to remember that we are dealing with powerful forces of nature and disasters of this kind tend to be unpredictable.
.It would be pointless to draw comparisons between the current floods and those of previous decades, as they are essentially the same. What happens is that a big cloud appears on the Polish-Czech border and both countries get about the same amount of rain. You could say that the disaster is triggered in the same way and in the same place during the summer period.
Yet there are some differences. First of all, the available infrastructure has changed. We now have the Racibórz Dolny reservoir, which can be used to flatten the flood wave on the Oder and prevent a catastrophic event in the form of the combined impact of the flood waves of the Nysa Kłodzka and the Oder. The capacity of the Wroclaw water system has also been upgraded. Today, the system is able to channel 3100 m3/s of water through Wrocław, which is very important for the city itself. The third key element is better communication between Poland and the Czech Republic.
In 1997, we were surprised by the sudden release of a huge amount of water on the Polish side of the border without anyone informing us about it. Now there are no such misunderstandings. Finally, there is the role of the media and technology. People now have mobile phones, which means lots of pictures, information feeds, reports, warnings, and ways to communicate. You could say that the only improvement the system needs at the moment is to reduce the amount of fake news in this big wave of information. In 1997, on the other hand, it was information that was in short supply.
This disaster is not confined to Poland, but is also taking place in other Central European countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria and Slovakia. All the countries in the region that have been affected by these floods cooperate in solidarity. In particular, they exchange information and make extensive use of the new European Copernicus satellite system for Earth observation. This information is available to all countries, including Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Romania. It is processed by the various institutions with which we cooperate.
Today’s debate on the resolution on aid has shown that, despite political differences and diverging opinions on the scale of the disaster, everyone agrees that it is necessary, first, to react, second, to react quickly, and third, to cut red tape and create a situation in which aid to the flood victims is adequate and rapid.
As for Wroclaw, the city has always been prepared, but prepared does not mean safe. It is important to remember that we are dealing with powerful forces of nature and disasters of this kind tend to be unpredictable. Their scale is very often bewildering, so that it is impossible to plan for everything and we have to take that into account.
Before another disaster of this type strikes in five, ten, or twenty years’ time, we must improve and develop the system of various protective measures. But we cannot protect ourselves against every disaster. In fact, no state has the financial resources and technical capabilities to do so. Another thing to consider is, of course, education. And finally, we must not forget that this disaster is to some extent man-made. It is enough to look at the felling of trees (sometimes completely unnecessary), the covering of cities with concrete (the so-called concrete frenzy), the urban sprawl, and the disregard for nature (building houses and sometimes even critical infrastructure in flood-prone areas). We need to keep all of this in mind.
.My advice is that we need to show more respect for urban planners. It is they who lay the foundations for how space is designed, land is developed and protective infrastructure is built. It is they who plan for the location of vital facilities like hospitals, emergency clinics, and fire brigade posts, as well as critical infrastructure, including reservoirs. We need to remember that much of the responsibility for flood protection and mitigation lies with people. We cannot do everything of course, but we can do a lot.
