A Polish woman, living in Portadown, is organising a collection of essentials to send to regions in her home country devastated by floods.
Paulina Konieczna, along with a groups of friends, decided she wanted to give back when she saw the plight faced by family and friends.
The floods, affecting the south-west area of the country, have left communities without electricity and basic essentials, with the Polish government declaring the situation a state of natural disaster.
Paulina is from a region affected by the floods and was even affected by previous floods in 1997 when she lived back home, so she’s all too aware of the devastation that results.
“Until yesterday I did not have any contact with my family because mobile networks are down and the landlines aren’t working,” she explained.
“I wasn’t even able to confirm if they are safe. Many of my friends are still there that we have contact with and friends and family that are living here still do not have contact with their beloved in Poland.”
Paulina says those affected have “lost absolutely everything”.
She continued: “This is a mountain region and the excessive rain and storms is coming down through the mountain.
“There are huge water dams in the area to prevent flooding but one of them broke with the force of the water coming down and that caused the huge flooding.
“There is no drinking water at the minute, there’s no infrastructure, there’s no waste management. The military is delivering food, dropping it through helicopters and things like that, so it’s quite severe.”
Paulina and her friends are collecting a number of essentials such as: clothing, canned food, dry food, baby food, nappies, sanitary towels and other items.
The main drop-off point in Portadown is Killicomaine Community Centre and the appeal is being supported by the Killicomaine Resident Group. Drop-off will be available from Monday (September 23) to Thursday (September 26) from 5pm to 8pm.
This can be extended if there is a larger than expected demand.
Collection can also be arranged for those who are not able to drop items off.
She’s also putting the appeal out around local shops and schools in a bid to drum up support.
“We’re just trying to raise awareness of what has happened and see if there will be kind people that can help.”
Pauline added: “I’ve got confirmation from a transport company that will deliver what we collect to Poland for free. In the cities that we’re planning to deliver to there are crisis management centres run by the government.
“We will deliver those goods to them and they will be distributed to people in need over there.”
The collected items will be delivered by BBros Transport, free of charge, to crisis management centres in Walbrzych and Nysa, where they will be directly distributed to those in need by Polish authorities.
You can also contact Paulina on 07756880401 for more information.
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