Repair works after the September flood will take at least several years, and even then it will have to be considered very fast. There is not even a full plan for rebuilding the damage yet, because analyzes are still ongoing as to what should be repaired and to what extent, and what needs to be built anew.
Local authorities and the government are focusing on rebuilding critical infrastructure, including: ensuring access to all places that were cut off during the September flood. An example is the temporary bridge in Głuchołazy, made available to residents in the place where the previous crossing over the Biała Głuchołaska River was broken. We may have to wait several years for a new bridge in this place. During the opening of this temporary coordinating activities for the reconstruction of flood-affected areas Marcin Kierwiński, minister plenipotentiary of the government for removing the effects of floodsannounced that talks are ongoing about the sources of financing for the new bridge. This means that the government is still looking for money for this purpose, and is also looking for money for other broken bridges. Residents cannot wait, so the army is opening eight temporary crossings in flooded areas.
For now, there is a fight against time
This year, the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways plans to remove over 330 identified flood effects on the network it manages, i.e. approximately 60%. destruction. “These are mainly repair and clean-up activities,” he says Szymon Piechowiak, press spokesman for GDDKiA. “Work on 100 tasks has been completed. Other activities are ongoing,” he adds.
Another example of ad hoc but necessary actions is: unblocking rivers in southwestern Polandthe cost is PLN 72 million. From the special reserve of the state budget, Polish Waters received an additional PLN 82 million for the removal of flood damage on the Biała Głuchołaska River in the Opole Voivodeship and for restoring the capacity of the riverbeds together with the development of bank breaches on the Biała Lądecka River in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. The rivers are to return to their pre-flood state in the middle of next year, so that they are ready for any further flood waves. Currently, Wody Polskie is carrying out repair works in 140 places, mainly in the Lower Silesian and Opole voivodeships, as well as in the Silesian and Lubuskie voivodeships.
On Friday, November 22, Polish Waters informed that so far they have completed 66 tasks related to removing the effects of floods on rivers, flood embankments and retention reservoirs. The value of these works is only approximately PLN 3 million. The work was carried out in 17 poviats and 38 communes in the following voivodeships: Lower Silesia, Lubusz and Opole. Currently, the most intensive activities are carried out in the Kłodzko district and concern cleaning and unblocking the Biała Lądecka river bed and the Morawka stream. Rubble (rock fragments) and garbage brought by the flood are removed from an approximately 40-kilometer section, including in Stronie Śląskie and Lądek-Zdrój. Polish Waters also secures a breach created in the right bank of the Nysa Kłodzka river bed in the town of Bardo.
For now, local governments want to complete the most urgent investments before winter. At the last meeting of the Sejm extraordinary committee for flood prevention activities and removing the effects of the 2024 flood, Marcin Kierwiński announced that so far local governments have submitted applications for the reconstruction of infrastructure in the amount of PLN 300 million. Money from the reserve Ministry of Interior and Administration will go to communes, counties and voivodeships. “These are expenses that must be completed this year,” Minister Kierwiński told the MPs.
The much larger ones, i.e. billions, are the perspective of the next years, because loss estimation and preparing analyzes and documentation necessary to start the next stages of activities require a lot of time and effort. “This is a process planned for many, many months” – the government plenipotentiary for removing the effects of the flood has repeated several times.
More needs worth billions
There is still no final bill. In September, losses in water infrastructure were estimated at PLN 3.5 billion. Damage on national roads and railway lines – PLN 1.5 billion. The value of damage to infrastructure of local importance will be much higher. Local government officials they still struggle with entering data on losses in the areas under their control and the institutions they manage into a special application.
On Lower Silesiawhere the damage is greatest, losses are estimated at at least PLN 5 billion. The water destroyed several hundred kilometers of roads and broke or damaged over 100 bridges. In addition, there are nearly 200 km of damaged sewage systems, 150 km of water supply networks and approximately 80 local sewage treatment plants. It’s also over 5.2 thousand. residential buildings and over 400 public buildings, including 151 schools.
A few days after the flood damage in the Opole Voivodeship was estimated at over PLN 2 billion, but in Głuchołazy alone the water caused damage of PLN 1.6 billion. In Silesia, where the effects of the flood were not so dramatic, the damage is estimated at over half a billion. And in Małopolska, where the September flood only marked its presence, nearly PLN 80 million in losses were reported.
Flood bill it will continue to grow and it is not known at what amount it will stop. And the repair of the damage will even exceed these calculations, if only because the rebuilt infrastructure will be better and more modern than the one destroyed by water.
Declared by Ministry of Education PLN 440 million for the reconstruction and renovation of schools flooded by floods is also a prospect for next year, and maybe even several years. Barbara Nowacka, Minister of National Education, declared that she would donate the entire educational subsidy reserve for the reconstruction of flood-affected schools, if necessary.
The most money is needed for roads. Just General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways estimates losses on the network it manages at over half a billion zlotys. Billions will be needed to rebuild local roads and bridges. New bridges will be the most expensive – at least four on national roads alone, and on local roads – at least several dozen.
Dilemmas of local governments
The president signed the second amendment to the Flood Act. The most important change for local governments is the granting of 100% funding to all affected communes and poviats indicated in the regulation on the state of natural disaster, for the reconstruction of damages, which are classified as the local government’s own tasks. Until now, communes and counties had to cover at least 20%. costs of such investments, and many local government units could not afford it.
Does this solve all financial problems of local governments? Not really. The government will cover the full reconstruction costs from the Government Road Development Fund, but most likely only up to PLN 100 million. If it turns out that these costs are higher in a given commune or district, additional money will have to be found in the local government budget anyway. The introduction of limits per commune or poviat is intended to ensure an even distribution of aid provided from the state budget, but it will not be enough for everything.
“And local governments will still have to contribute their own money to pay VAT, because the 100% does not cover it,” he notes. Marek Wójciklegislative representative of the office of the Association of Polish Cities, secretary of the local government side in the Joint Commission of the Government and Territorial Self-Government
But this is not the only problem for local government officials. “Now the most important thing is to quickly repair the damage that makes everyday life difficult, but strategic and long-term decisions are needed very quickly,” he emphasizes. Marek Wójcik.
It’s about, for example, how much destroyed objects will only be recreated, and to what extent will there be consent to build new, much more expensive ones? Local governments also need information on what flood protection investments are planned for the coming years, which will allow them to make decisions, for example, about building public facilities in completely new places, better protected against flooding.
“When rebuilding after the flood, we should take care of several businesses at once. For example, rebuilding a destroyed school. We can recreate it, but wouldn’t it be better to immediately plan it with a place for shelter for residents, and also with photovoltaic panels to make it energy-saving ?” – suggests a representative of the Association of Polish Cities.
According to him, such decisions should concern the entire reconstructed infrastructure (e.g. construction of arch bridges, which are more expensive but also more durable than the destroyed ones), and decisions on this matter must be made this year – with guarantees that local governments will receive more money for this than the estimated losses . “And let’s not delude ourselves that we will rebuild everything quickly. Some of the damage after the 1997 flood was removed in 2010.” – reminds Marek Wójcik.
Act quickly and with perspective
According to the ZMP expert, the government should also think about: a comprehensive program of economic revitalization of areas damaged during the last flood. At the above-mentioned meeting of the parliamentary committee on flooding, entrepreneurs appeared and presented their dramatic situation.
“These areas have been dying for a long time, the flood damaged them even more. We need to help the economy of this region – quickly, but also with a long-term perspective. A good idea is a tourist voucher aimed only at this area, but there must be more such activities, otherwise We will rebuild roads and bridges, and people will leave via these new roads anyway. We need to do something to make them want to stay there,” summarizes Marek Wójcik.
Grzegorz Skowron (GEG Information Agency)
Read more in DGP add-on | Infrastructure investments
