Author: Rafal Motyl

Downpours lasting many hours caused flooding and inundation in several places in Warsaw. At night, a meeting was held with the participation of representatives of the city, the governor, the Fire Department, and the Police. All services are in ongoing contact and are working to remove the effects of the downpour.

President Rafał Trzaskowski, Mazovian Voivode Mariusz Frankowski together with the commanders of the Police and the State Fire Service met on the border of Mokotów and Wilanów, where the embankment of the Służewiecki Stream was breached due to rainfall.

Due to heavy rains in Warsaw, the crisis team was operating from 2 a.m. This is very important because in such situations the most important thing is coordination of actions. Big thanks to all services, and of course to the fire department, which worked practically all night and continues to work, to the police and to all city services. At the moment, actions are underway, especially where it is necessary to pump out water, in places like here, but also on flooded exit routes – said Rafał Trzaskowski, President of the Capital City of Warsaw.

The Voivode of Mazovia, Mariusz Frankowski, reminded that it is important to follow the alerts of the Government Security Centre and also emphasised the role of cooperation between the services and local government and government administration.

It will probably be possible to clear the S8 route, flooded by heavy rains, by 3 p.m. – informed Voivode Frankowski. – We are in contact with the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways. This is not the responsibility of the capital city, but of the central level – emphasized the Mazovian Voivode. He added that clearing the S7, S79 and S2 routes is a matter of the next few hours.

We are constantly monitoring the situation. As the president mentioned, we had about a thousand incidents in Warsaw. I also asked the provincial headquarters for support. We received help in the amount of 26 vehicles, i.e. 6 firefighting platoons, about 120 people. I increased the number of people on duty in my area. At the peak, about 380 people were working. Our actions consisted primarily of pumping water from various flooded places. At the moment, we are also dealing with smaller floods, we have about 70 such incidents left – said the commander of the Warsaw Fire Department, Senior Brigadier Roman Krzywiec.

Today I have sent almost 400 police officers exclusively to handle this event. We are focusing on ensuring the safety of residents in terms of traffic in the entire city, but also around Warsaw. We appeal to residents to respond to any threats and to forward such information to the capital city police – said the commander of the capital city police, inspector Dariusz Walichnowski.

Public transport

There are no difficulties in running Warsaw Metrogo. Ground public transport is coordinated with the Police to avoid places inaccessible due to flooding.

Due to heavy rainfall, there are difficulties in the operation of public transport vehicles. The following changes are currently in effect:

• Cierlicka Street tunnel: lines 187, 401 and 517: … – Kościuszki – Children of Warsaw – Gdańsk Post Office – al. Czerwca 1989 – Tractor Drivers – Władysław Jagiełło – …

• Toruńska route: buses 112, 156, 132, 134, 186, 326, 414, 518, 705 and 735 run on their basic routes. The Os. Potok 04 stop (towards Żoliborz and Wola) remains temporarily suspended.

In the event of encountering a lack of passage, buses are directed to detours via the nearest passable streets. Services are working all the time and gradually restoring passage on the basic routes.

Lindego Bis and Mokotowski Bis collectors are in operation. Almost all storm overflows have been activated.

The city is open 24 hours a day

The city’s Contact Centre received 183 reports, mainly concerning water and sewage system failures and interventions, as well as approx. 130 information reports regarding delays in public transport due to heavy rain.

The most reports concerned flooded roads, bursting manholes, flooded rooms. There were reports that did not concern rainfall, but were directly related to it, i.e. traffic light failures, road accidents, infrastructure damage, roadway contamination.

Reports were also received by individual services. Thus, the Municipal Control Post in the Capital Security Centre received 29 reports, the State Fire Service 1000 reports, MPWiK 62 reports, the Emergency Notification Centre 112 – 718 reports, Stoen Operator 120 reports, ZDM 9 reports, ZTM 20 reports (report from 05:00).

City Cleanup

The cleaning services are removing the effects of Monday’s and night’s storms. City Cleaning Authority inspectors are monitoring the capital for places that need the most urgent cleaning. After pumping water from flooded streets and tunnels, sweepers start working to clean the road surface of the litter brought by the water. Particular attention is paid to manholes covered in leaves, cut grass or bark. The cleaning also includes sidewalks and bike paths, especially where mud has flowed down from the slopes.

The City Cleaning Authority is responsible for 1,300 km of national, provincial and district streets and 3.5 million square meters of pedestrian areas, so the final cleanup may take several days. Residents can report pollution after heavy rains by City Contact Center Warsaw 19115where the appropriate addressee of the intervention is established, to whom the case is forwarded.