Prime Minister Donald Tusk shared his observations from a visit to the flood-stricken areas of the Kłodzko district during the crisis centre meeting. Residents returning to their homes after evacuation are faced with many problems. One of the challenges reported by citizens concerns price hikes on basic products, including rubber boots and gloves, which are essential for clean-up.

“I have asked the Bureau of Competition and Consumer Protection to immediately investigate this matter in order to effectively protect people, so that after suffering from flooding, they do not fall victim to other people's greed,”

the Prime Minister declared.

More police officers and soldiers will also be sent to the affected areas.

“People are looking forward to the military arriving there. We are very satisfied with how much money we spend on defence, we talk about building the largest army in Europe - that is all true. But since we are saying this, we need to show that the military will respond when their help is needed,”

said Donald Tusk.

This should alleviate the fears of the residents of villages visited by the Prime Minister, who are still worried about their belongings.

The Prime Minister voiced his expectation that local government officials and the crisis centre staff would visit the affected areas.

“The more time we have to prepare the aid, the more necessary it is for all of you and your subordinates to be among the people. They expect you to give them basic information,”

the Prime Minister noted.

We want to make sure that people do not feel like they were left alone with the suffering following the disaster.

The issues do not end with the clean-up of flood-stricken homes and flats. Many people are concerned about their financial security.

“All the people I have been talking to told me the same thing: We have lost our home, we have lost our flat and we have a mortgage,”

 Donald Tusk pointed out.

In response to these concerns, the government plans to take further action.

“We are going to introduce solutions that will ensure proper support to borrowers who have lost their homes as a result of the floods,”

the Prime Minister assured.

The Minister of Finance has been tasked with developing the relevant solutions.

The Prime Minister also noted the state of the buildings he visited today. The government has secured funding for non-refundable subsidies for necessary repairs; however, proper and professional assessment of the buildings’ technical condition needs to be carried out first. The number of people with relevant expertise is limited.

“We need to get experts from all over Poland in order to assess what can be rebuilt, what can be saved, what can be renovated,”

the Prime Minister explained.

The assessment of the technical condition of the buildings will enable providing effective support.

The natural disaster in south-western Poland resulted in losses evaluated at several billion PLN to date. It is likely that changes to the state budget will be needed in order to earmark funding for the necessary repairs to the damaged infrastructure. EU funding is seen as a likely source of money.

“I was delighted to hear that very large sums of EU funding could be made available to Poland, including the Resilience Fund. We are talking about billions, but it still may not be enough. I will continue to work with other countries affected by the floods in order to put enough pressure on the European Commission to understand the extent of the destruction,”

the Prime Minister stated.

Donald Tusk will also raise the issue of EU investment in flood infrastructure in countries that are increasingly endangered by these disasters.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister once again reminded of the importance of providing reliable, verified information.

“When it comes to data such as the number of people who lost their lives, they need to be as precise as possible. I urge everybody to be patient and wait for the daily announcements released by the Police,”

recommended Donald Tusk to the local authorities.

In the wake of natural disasters, there is no time for disputes and shifting the blame for mistakes that sometimes happen.

“We all need to keep in mind to ensure that the same mistake never happens twice. We need to be fully coordinated and to work hand in hand,”

the Prime Minister concluded.

The key priority for all local and national authorities is to help the victims - all the efforts should focus on this objective.