For a period now, operational and territorial troops have been supporting local communities in the fight against floods. As part of Operation Feniks, uniforms rebuild roads, clear riverbeds and remove the precipitation that has brought large water. The military built a bridge in Głuchołazy and prepared the area where the modular container school stood.
The operation under the name ‘Feniks’ has continued continuously since 23 September. More than 5 1000 soldiers are active in areas affected by the flood each day, including more than 2 1000 soldiers of territorial defense. The "Fenix" uniform actions focus on 5 areas: safety, health, mobility restoration, logistics and training. The operation is headed by the WOT commander-in-chief, Brig. Gen. Krzysztof Stańczyk.
– The main intent of the operation is to remove the harm caused by the flood," said Colonel Robert Pękala, the spokesperson for the Territorial Defence Command. – Soldiers rebuild roads, irritate riverbeds and retention tanks, remove sandbags, stacked to lift the storms. They clean and drain residential buildings and public buildings. They bring medical assistance, supply floodwaters, build bridges and keep temporary road crossings, says the spokesman.
Military task forces – among them operating troops and OT – carry out tasks in Silesia and Lower Silesia, where the flood has caused the most havoc. Engineering units are stationed in the Bank, which are prepared to reconstruct and rebuild roads, and there are besides specialists from pumps and bridge construction. In Oleśnica there are logistics officers who care about food and accommodation of soldiers.
Poles do not act alone. As of October 10, nearly 100 German soldiers from the 4th Engineering Battalion of Bogen (10th Armored Division) and 39 units of equipment have been stationed in Poland. German bomb squads are active in clearing the riverbed of the White Deaf and with specialized dense equipment they strengthen the banks of the river. The military operates in the vicinity of Bodzanov and the Deaf. In the second town, on Friday 25 October, the bridge was launched. The construction of a 72-metre bridge in the Deaf is the largest undertaking carried out by the army in flood areas. In addition, engineering troops work on the construction of 8 smaller temporary bridge crossings. These are created in the towns of Krapkowice-Żywocie, Krosnoce, Wawrzeńczyce, Markowice, Wilkanów, Bielice, Lądek-Zdrój and Śląskie.
– The soldiers operating under Operation Feniks cleared and cleared over 37 km of roads from falling mud, debris and flood debris. 25 km of roads were rebuilt, which active fertilization of aggregate, hardening of the surface and widening and clearing of road ditches and culverts," explains the spokesperson for WOT. He besides reports that military efforts have made the natural course of more than 2 km of riverbeds more efficient and restored. “We could not usage dense equipment anywhere, and soldiers worked only with the strength of their own hands,” says Col. According to the statistic provided by the WOT Command, more than 50,000 tonnes of waste have already been exported from the affected areas and 40,000 tonnes of aggregate have been delivered, which soldiers have utilized to strengthen river banks and rebuild roads. The crumb was besides utilized to strengthen the land close the gas pipeline in Barda and to harden the site in the village of Żelazno, where 54 containers were established, which will service as a primary school for a time.
Military men don't forget medical support either. Mobile vaccination teams separated by military preventive medicine centres conduct vaccination against tetanus, abdominal durem and hepatitis A+B infections. By now, more than 2.5 000 people have been vaccinated. Until recently, there was besides a field military infirmary in Nysa, with nearly 1,100 patients receiving assistance. Now the facility will be located in Brzeg to defend medically the soldiers active in the Fenix. In addition, in areas affected by floods, it works 10 disinfection task forcewhich disinfects public buildings, roads, urban squares or wells at all times. Military chemists have already disinfected about 1.4 million m2 of buildings and nearly 190 km of roads.
That's not all. Soldiers are active in the transportation and distribution of water and food for needy residents. They spend their meals at the Site of Silesia, Land-Zdrój and Nysa. For a month, civilians received over 72,000 meals and 7 million litres of water. The military besides delivered over a 100 specialized containers, including residential, sanitary and office containers, and heaters that give heat on colder days.
The military's not acting alone. Cooperation with local local authorities is very crucial here,” emphasises DWOT spokesperson. “We have created teams of civil-military cooperation that go to the field to diagnose needs and consult local government. In this way we can find what needs to be done in the first place in terms of restoring or arranging the infrastructure," said Colonel Pękala. To facilitate this flow of information, the military besides created the application "SI Phoenix". The program facilitates the transmission of requests from the public administration for the usage of forces and resources of the Polish Army.
At the highest of the floods in the framework of the “Fenix” action, 26 1000 soldiers were involved, including over 13 1000 from the operational troops, over 8,000 from the WOT, about half a 1000 logistics officers from the Armed Forces Support Inspectorate, 500 soldiers from the Military Gendarmerie and 600 soldiers from the garrison command units of Warsaw, mainly from the 15th Sieradzki Brigade of Command. At the critical minute of strengthening the shaft in Wrocław almost 900 subjects of military universities were besides involved. presently there are more than 5,000 soldiers operating in Silesia and Lower Silesia. According to the plan, Operation Feniks is scheduled to proceed until 31 December 2024. It could be extended.
