After a summer drought, in mid-September 2024, catastrophic floods are hitting southern and southwestern Poland. This is due to torrential rains, surpassing the rainfall totals of the devastating 1997 Central European flood that occurred in the same regions. Such weather events are happening more frequently in Central Europe and are undoubtedly linked to the ongoing climate warming.
What is the Kraków Food Bank’s reaction to the flood crisis?
In the face of the ongoing disaster, the Food Bank in Krakow is working to provide emergency relief to people in the flooded areas: large quantities of essential, safe food, water, and sanitation supplies, as well as cleaning and disinfection products needed to clean and sanitize homes.
We are partnering with the Federation of Polish Food Banks and Food Banks operating in the affected areas: Wrocław (Lower Silesia), Opole (Opole Silesia), and Katowice (Upper Silesia).
Our task is to supply these Food Banks according to current needs in the form of packages prepared by teams of volunteers from Krakow-based corporations and on pallets. Everything is directed to flood victims through their distribution networks, which are based on local non-governmental organizations and social assistance institutions.
How can you aid the Kraków Food Bank in its flood response efforts?
To this end, please transfer the funds you can to the following accounts:
FOR TRANSFERS IN USD
BANK ŻYWNOŚCI W KRAKOWIE
IBAN: PL89160010130002001162122040
BIC/SWIFT: PPABPLPK
FOR TRANSFERS IN EUR
BANK ŻYWNOŚCI W KRAKOWIE
IBAN: PL62160010130002001162122041
BIC/SWIFT: PPABPLPK
FOR TRANSFERS IN PLN
BANK ŻYWNOŚCI W KRAKOWIE
IBAN: PL75160010130002001162122001
BIC/SWIFT: PPABPLPK
BANK ADDRESS
BNP Paribas Bank Polska S.A.ul. Kasprzaka 10/1601-211 Warszawa
We plan to continue these efforts as long as there is a need for this kind of aid, until people can return to their homes. The water will recede, and the rebuilding of what the disaster has destroyed will begin.
What is the nature and extent of the crisis?
Currently, the flood problem initially affected towns in upland areas, where small mountain streams turned into large, fast-flowing rivers, flooding dozens of towns in this part of the country and destroying everything in their path. There have been fatalities. The damage to infrastructure is in the billions of dollars and can only be fully assessed after the floodwaters recede. This includes road and rail infrastructure, transmission networks, water supply systems, residential homes, and farms.
According to local leaders of the flood-affected towns, restoring the pre-flood state could take 6-7 years, despite declared government assistance and support from the European Union.
Thousands of people have been evacuated from homes destroyed by the disaster. They are often losing their life’s work and are forced to seek shelter in very difficult conditions. The water is unfit for drinking and cooking, and contact with it poses health risks. There is a lack of safe, uncontaminated food, and there is no way to prepare meals as there is no electricity or gas.
The situation is dire. By September 20, the peak flood waves are expected to hit cities along the Oder River. Large urban centers are located there, such as Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Opole, Brzeg, and Wrocław, with a population of 700,000. The water is encroaching on more towns.
The fight against the flood and the race against time continue, and despite the improvement in the weather, water levels in the Oder River basin are ominously rising, exceeding critical levels. Flood embankments are at risk of breaking, and dams and retention reservoirs are unable to withstand the incoming waters. The threat of flooding is not disappearing and is a harsh reality for tens of thousands of Polish families.