Flooding in Poland in 2010 as a Exemplification of Efforts of the Polish Social Work Services in Case of Disaster

Abstract

Flooding is one of the most common natural disasters. People have dealt with its occurrence and consequences for centuries. It is difficult to predict, occur unexpectedly and proceed with extreme rapidity causing destruction on a massive scale. The unprecedented flooding that hit Poland in 1997 and 2010 had disastrous consequences for the environment, population, infrastructure and economy. Natural disasters, such as flooding in 2010 constitute also a serious test for society and its organization - both administrative structures and specialized services as well as informal social ties, norms and values. The article describes how the polish citizens dealt with the flood of 2010 and after its termination, including support received from family, neighbors and social institutions. The article will describe government statistics and the results of qualitative research conducted among emergency responders (25 individual in - depth interview), the victims (25 individual in - depth interview) and quantitative research 500 questionnaires.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n13p315