WROCLAW, Poland, Sept 20 (Askume) – A social media creator whose account usually shows people where to eat and relax in the historic Polish city of Wroclaw has now turned his focus to showing people where they can volunteer to protect the city from flooding.
Central Europe is hit by floods that have caused billions of dollars in damage and killed at least 24 people, but Poland’s third-largest city has escaped the worst damage thanks to a huge concentration of people. Sandbags form walls.
“This time around we’ve changed our approach a bit because we actually have our biggest presence in Wroclaw because we have almost 600,000 people following us on social media, Instagram and Facebook,” said Camille Kapinski, a 35-year-old social media producer.
Through social media profiles like Kapinski’s, people can offer equipment, resources, transportation, and their time.
One of them was Patrycja Rozmus, a 26-year-old IT recruiter, who took a day off work to help place sandbags underneath the Tarczynski Arena stadium.
“People are scared, but you can also see they’re coming together and doing whatever they can to help,” he said.
Next to the stadium, dozens of people from across the region came to fill sandbags and distribute them to residents whose property was at risk.
“We work around the clock … there is always someone willing to help,” said Marcin Janiszewski, spokesman and coordinator of flood-related activities at Wroclaw’s Tarczynski Arena.
Floods triggered by torrential rains destroyed bridges, submerged cars and left cities across central Europe filled with mud and debris.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Wroclaw on Thursday and pledged 10 billion euros ($11.16 billion) in EU aid to Poland and other affected countries .
Among the volunteers helping stack sandbags in Wroclaw was Iryna Szymanska, a 40-year-old real estate agent from Ukraine who has lived in the city for six years.
“We are all human beings and you always have to help in difficult situations… I feel international brotherhood here and it’s great to work together,” he said.
