Water has been pumped out of basements and yards of households across Bolesławiec County for 24 hours. Osiecznica was the only municipality where firefighters did not go out with pumps.
“It became dangerous on Sunday at noon,” says a resident of Łaziska, whose basement was flooded and where water began seeping through the walls into the ground floor. An excavator sent by the crisis management staff arrived at the scene. It was supposed to dig a ditch toward the field to drain the water. However, the excavator broke down, and the victim had to be helped not only by firefighters but also by neighbors. It also turned out that the culvert beneath the road belonging to the County Office was in terrible condition and completely failed to serve its purpose. “For four years, we have been fighting with the Rural Municipality and the County Office to secure the road and properly drain the fields,” complain the residents of Łaziska.
The Bobrzyca stream overflowed in Tomaszów Bolesławiecki. Several dozen households were flooded, and some were completely cut off from the road. “We fought the water until three in the morning. Pumps have been operating since the morning. There was a flood like this here thirty years ago,” say the residents of Tomaszów Bolesławiecki.
Firefighters from Bolesławiec explain that the flooding was caused by water from melting snow flowing down from the fields, as well as rainfall. They warn that it may soon become even more dangerous, because temperatures are rising in the mountains and the rivers may begin to overflow.