Poland
Poland's Long Winter
The economic damage caused by the long and cold winter in Poland is yet to be measured. From all appearances the cost of recovery will be high.
There will, of course, be the annual floods. Large snow accumulations exist all over Poland. This year there have not been any short periods of thawing that might have reduced the moisture load on the land. Almost all the winter's snow accumulation remains and it is the middle of March. If the weather suddenly gets warm the rush of water to the rivers is likely to be very high and the resulting floods worse than normal.
The roads throughout the country have also taken a beating this year. They are severely cracked and full of potholes. Driving in a city like Warsaw is more a task of avoiding potholes than anything else. But missing the holes all the time is not possible and wear on cars has been high. There are going to be huge repair bills for everyone, car owners and road repairers alike.
The effect of the filth and salt that will be dumped into the rivers remains to be seen. A full winters sand and salt lies about the country. No doubt it will hit the rivers in a rush and what that will due to any remaining ecological systems that have survived the normal assault of daily life is anyone's guess.
The sand used on the roads also tends to clog the city drainage systems. What the effect will be this year after such high use of sand on the roads will only be able to be measured with time.
Cities like Warsaw will have to dig out from under a winter's worth of animal excrement that has accumulated and has been hidden by frequent snowfalls. As the weather continues to hover around freezing, waste continues to accumulate. When the citizenry and workers responsible for waste removal get on cleaning up is probably a few more weeks away.
Of course the floods will be of foremost concern. They will come. The country will see how well the authorities have prepared. Levies will be topped and some will be breached. That is the way of floods in Poland. How much and how often combined with government preparation will determine the cost to the budget, human and animal life plus damage to the environment.
The next few weeks will keep people busy in Poland recovering from what has been wrought by nature and what will result from mans use of the floodplains and forests that historically protected against serious flooding.
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