Every year floods, tsunami, storms, volcanic eruptions leave behind a whole different world.

The floods in Poland over the last two weeks of May 2010 had large human and material impacts. Following intensive rain in the south of Poland, both Wisla and Odra river systems were not able to deal with so much water. In all areas the rivers started to flood the surrounding land and induced land slides in the mountains. A lot of bridges were closed in case of being swept away. This luckily didn’t happen and as soon the level of the water went down a bit the bridges were reopened. The floods left behind an area which became dirty and destroyed. Many people lost their houses, farmers lost their crops and animals and some even lost their lives. The victims of the flood needed to be helped urgently and a large national and international solidarity action has helped to meet their needs. By Alexandra Bittner