ZAGAN, Poland — On September 13, 2024 the town of Zagan, roughly an hour's drive from the German border, was on edge – the Bobr River was swelling.
“We were terrified,” said Adrianna Krol, a longtime resident of Zagan. Torrential rains had flooded parts of the Czech Republic and the storms were getting stronger as they moved north. Many older residents of Zagan had seen this before as floods in the 1970’s ripped through their tranquil town.
“I was really worried about my mom because she lives in the city center, “Krol said. “The building where she lives is connected to catacombs and we saw the ground breaking. We were scared.”
Community leaders and the Polish Military had begun to mobilize to prevent flood damage but how U.S. Forces would respond was being debated in the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw as the rivers began to rise.
U.S. Army 1st Lt. Jakub Nowinski was leading an operations team in Karliki, a U.S. Army Garrison Poland installation just up the road from Zagan, and knew he had to do something,“ I would go home, let the dog out and in, change into civilian clothes, drive over to help fill sand bags and move whatever I could while the city prepared,” Nowinski said. The U.S. Embassy did give the green light for U.S. Army to help in flood prevention as a mixed group of Soldiers and civilians from across the Swietoszow Military Community volunteered.
It was those volunteers that the garrison team at Trzebien relied upon. “We needed both Polish and American volunteers to help (fill sandbags) and keep the water from getting in the base,” explained Freddie Cortez, one of the site's operation mangers. In addition to filling sandbags to protect buildings Sgt. 1st Class Kelvin Webster used water trucks to remove exess liquid that was on the base. As the roads outside of the base flooded Soldiers from Trzebien rerouted their convoys through the range or training ground roads to keep base life support moving and supplies running.
According to Stars and Stripes the 2024 floods would claim at least 24 lives and require two U.S. Service Members to be rescued. One year later Robert McLeod, who is the senior operations manager for USAG Poland in Zagan, said steps are being taken to mitigate flood damage in the future.
“I think the city or town of Zagan has services working together, " said McLeod about a new crisis plan that involves multiple local agencies. “They are communicating more as we all stay here and we have to work together.”
The community liked what they saw from both militaries working together. “It was amazing,” Krol said. “I’ll remember that day.”
And for Nowinski he hopes it's a feeling to continue well into the future. “They know we are not just here to train,” he said. “We are not just here to show ourselves. They know we are here to help, they know we are allies here to assist.”
Social Sharing