The situation in Szprotawa (Lubuskie) is getting more and more difficult. For safety reasons, the reinforcement of the embankments has been completed. As reported by Mayor Mirosław Gąsik, half of the city is already under water. For now, the water is ankle-deep, and in some places it is already knee-deep.
According to IMGW measurements from 12 o’clock, the Bóbr River level in Szprotawa is already 468 centimeters (at 17.30). In the morning, around 10 o’clock, it was still 455 centimeters. The alarm level is 250 centimeters.
“In the city and southern part of the Szprotawa commune, the waters of the Bóbr River are constantly rising. There is more of it than IMGW forecasted yesterday. The Szprotawa River has also exceeded the alarm level today,” the Szprotawa city council reported.
Even before noon, officials reported local flooding on Zamkowa, Waryńskiego, 3 Maja, Młynarska, Kościuszki streets. Water also appeared in the area of Słoneczna Street, where residents and firefighters were reinforcing the flood embankment.
– We are now dealing with a peak wave. We expect that we will be dealing with this condition for several hours. Then the wave will reach Małomice and Żagań, where preparations are already underway – said Paweł Grzymała, press officer of the District Headquarters of the State Fire Service in Żagań after 3 p.m.
Water in SzprotawaNadia Rulak TVN24
“We are afraid of the worst-case scenario”
Just before 2 p.m., the mayor of Szprotawa announced on social media that important decisions had been made. – The situation is getting worse. The water is rising, the embankments are soaked. For the safety of people, we are refraining from strengthening the embankments. We have closed the main streets in Szprotawa. We have decided to close the access road: national road no. 12 and provincial road 297. There is no longer any access to Szprotawa, you have to use detours – said Mayor Mirosław Gąsik in an interview with Nadia Rulak from TVN24.
As Gąsik added, about half of the city is already under water. For now, it mainly reaches ankles, although there are places where it is even knee-deep, like in the aforementioned Piastowskie Housing Estate. – We are waiting for the development of events. This is all changing dynamically. There are places where the water overflows and there is a strong current there, so it makes operations difficult. Now we are defending the water treatment plant. All forces are now allocated there – says Gąsik.
Difficult situation in Szprotawa (Lubuskie)TVN24
The services are also focusing on defending the local sewage treatment plant. – It is surrounded by water, which is starting to rise dangerously higher. We are afraid of the worst-case scenario, which predicts that the water will enter this facility. It would be an ecological and social catastrophe. The city would no longer have a place to collect sewage – emphasizes the mayor.
The army is involved in the defense of strategic locations in the city. – There was an idea to partially blow up the embankments to direct the water to the former gravel pit, but after talking to the governor and Polish Waters, we do not have consent to this. They are afraid that the leakage of the embankments may cascade to other places – explains Gąsik. – A big surprise for us is that the water is distributed completely differently than during the flood in 1997. And even though the level is similar, the water behaves differently. We will probably conduct analyses after everything is over to find out why this is happening – he adds.
They will no longer defend the rampart
Just before 2 p.m., the mayor and the Lubuskie governor decided to withdraw protection of the embankment near nearby Dziećmiarowice. – The situation there is the most difficult right now, because we have a loss of stability of the embankment, which is soaked with water and may be damaged. The embankment has not been breached, there is water in the riverbed, but there are minor leaks – Paweł Grzymała, press officer of the District Headquarters of the State Fire Service in Żagań, told TVN24.
In Dziećmiarowice, the mayor ordered the evacuation of residents of the most endangered homes. A spokesman for the Żagań fire department said that one of the possible steps is the partial dismantling of the embankment at a distance from Dziećmiarowice. – This is one of the possibilities, but it does not have to be implemented. A meeting of the crisis team is underway, at which decisions on further actions will be made – added Grzymała.
Difficult situation in DziećmiarowiceTVN24
Softened embankments in DziećmiarowiceTVN24
Drinking water
The Szprotawskie Wodociągi i Kanalizacja company announced at noon that the water from the intake in Szprotawa is safe to drink. “Due to the dynamically changing situation, we ask you to secure appropriate amounts of drinking water, as we are unable to predict what effects of the flood we will have to deal with,” the company said in a message on its social media.
Due to the announced flood alarm in the Szprotawa commune, the mayor agreed to suspend educational classes in educational institutions.
The levels of six rivers have been exceeded
In the Lubuskie Province, alarm levels exceeded on Monday morning were recorded on the Bóbr in Szprotawa and Żagań. In Łozy, the alarm level was slightly exceeded by the Kwisa. There are currently no floods – informed Sławomir Pawlak, director of the Lubuskie Province Governor’s Office.
According to IMGW data from 8 a.m. on Tuesday, the Bóbr in Szprotawa exceeded the alarm level by 198 cm, and the Szprotawa by 19 cm. In Żagań, the alarm level on the Bóbr was exceeded by 151 cm, and in Nowogród Bobrzański by 4 cm. The Nysa Łużycka in Przewóz was 90 cm above the alarm level, and the Kwisa in Łozy by 159 cm. – In Małomice, Szprotawa and Żagań, a flood wave is moving from the south of the country over the Bóbr. The necessary actions have been taken everywhere, the embankments and other critical places are being secured, and there is readiness for a possible evacuation of residents from the threatened areas – said the director of the Lubuskie Voivode’s office. As informed by the spokesman for the Lubuskie State Fire Service, Junior Brig. Arkadiusz Kaniak, from observations and the latest forecasts, it appears that the peak of the wave on the Bóbr will reach Lubuskie on Tuesday (September 17) and will be lower than forecasted a few days ago. He added that according to information from the State Fire Service, the Bóbr may rise by another 30-40 cm, and then the water should start to recede. – Currently, there is no major threat to the residents of Szprotawa. Of course, local flooding is possible and water may appear in the basements of houses near the Bóbr, but the embankments are holding and the river is not flooding. We are making sure that no water-accumulating ice jams form near the bridges, and when they do, we remove them on an ongoing basis – said Junior Brig. Kaniak. He added that in Żagań and Małomice, the Bóbr significantly exceeds the alarm level, but it is located in the riverbed and does not flood the cities. Flooding may also occur there. – The situation is similar in the case of towns near the Nysa Łużycka and Kwisa. We are everywhere there and we are monitoring the situation and helping residents, including by making sure that there are no blockages on bridges or by strengthening the embankments – said the spokesman for the Lubuskie State Fire Service. Due to the hydrological situation on the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers, flood alarms are in force for the communes of Szprotawa, Małomice and in the city and commune of Żagań. In the case of Nysa Łużycka, flood alerts have been declared in the communes of Przewóz, Trzebiel, Łęknica and Brody. In Żagań, Szprotawa and Małomice, classes in public kindergartens and schools are still suspended.
photo-source">Source of the main photo: Nadia Rulak TVN24
