– Excavator, we need an excavator. This damn river won’t return to its course. Everything is clogged with branches, debris, and people’s belongings. A neighbor recognized her washing machine on the riverbank.

We are in Bodzanów and Rudawa. We’re visiting house after house. The landscape looks like a zone of war, a brutal one, fought blindly and with great aggression. The list of immediate needs grows by the minute.

– We need everything – says the elderly couple, standing on their porch, trying to support one another from collapsing in despair, just like their house. No help has reached them since Monday.

Cleaning supplies are urgently needed. We’re collecting them at our Warsaw headquarters (Klarysewska Street 52C) and locally around Bodzanów. Without them, mold, bacteria, and disease will soon spread. Sister Chmielewska is providing us with blankets and water containers. We still need a water tanker to bring enough technical water to every home so that residents won’t have to walk hundreds of meters with buckets to the distribution points.

We’re trying to find out why there’s a ban on flying drones over the flooded areas. Before cleanup and rebuilding can begin, the residents urgently need to document their losses for insurance purposes.

We need painkillers, sedatives, simple bandages, and disinfectants for cuts and wounds.

There’s a lot to do, but we’ve already made great progress. Most importantly, we have people on the ground managing the entire operation, reporting needs, supporting the distressed residents, and helping the team in Warsaw coordinate aid to ensure it meets real needs. Starting tomorrow, two excavators and three dump trucks will begin clearing the river’s path.

Join the fundraiser. We need this fuel right now to keep helping people.