U.S. and Polish soldiers fill sandbags at Camp Karliki in Zagan, Poland, on Sept. 18, 2024. The 1st Cavalry Division Sustainment Brigade volunteered to assist in efforts to protect the city from flooding. Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Romania have been hit hard by floods following record rainfall starting Sept. 12, 2024. (Seth Porter/U.S. Army)
U.S. service members in southwestern Poland worked alongside Polish troops and civilians to fill hundreds of sandbags this week to stem floodwaters that have ravaged the region.
About 30 troops from a cluster of base camps near the town of Zagan offered the Polish military a helping hand as the area braced for rising waters, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Thursday.
On Friday, the water level was receding, but American personnel remained ready to return to the town to help its 25,000 residents with recovery.
“Emergency relief is kind of in our DNA,” said Staff Sgt. Joshua Kershner from the Virginia National Guard’s 529th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion. “As National Guardsmen, we go out, we help our communities all the time with their hurricane relief.”
The Virginia Beach-based battalion arrived at Camp Karliki near Zagan in March as part of a constant rotation of American forces bolstering security in Europe.
Parts of Poland and other countries in Central Europe became inundated this week as a slow-moving storm dumped up to five times the average September rainfall in four days, swelling rivers and overwhelming flood barriers.
The floods have killed at least 24 people so far. On Tuesday, two U.S. service members were rescued by firefighters after nearly being swept away by the flooded Bobr River in Trzebien, according to Polish media.
The two Americans swam about 600 feet, then grabbed onto some trees before being helped ashore by a rescue boat, a deputy police commander told reporters.
In Zagan, which is also on the river, floodwaters submerged bridges and some low-lying parts of the town but spared the nearby camps where hundreds of American troops are stationed.
Kershner said a resident told him the flooding was the worst the town had seen in nearly 20 years.
The Polish Defense Ministry mobilized 10,000 soldiers to help combat the widespread floods, build defenses and provide aid.
Capt. Brian Evers, also a member of the Virginia National Guard, said the Polish military put out a call for additional help Wednesday and within two hours American troops were standing with shovels in hand beside a giant mound of sand.
For hours, they filled sandbag after sandbag and loaded them onto flatbed trucks headed for other parts of town or farther away.
U.S. and Polish soldiers fill sandbags at Camp Karliki in Zagan, Poland, on Sept. 18, 2024. Volunteers pitched in to protect Zagan from the floodwaters of the Bobr River. Poland and nearby countries have been battling floods since record rainfall hit Sept. 12, 2024. (Seth Porter/U.S. Army)
U.S. and Polish soldiers fill sandbags at Camp Karliki in Zagan, Poland, on Sept. 18, 2024. Volunteer response to floods raging in southwestern Poland has been strong, with American soldiers saying it is second-nature to help. (Seth Porter/U.S. Army)
Evers said American service members regularly engage with the nearby Polish 11th Armored Cavalry Division as well as civilians, and they thought nothing of volunteering their time.
“It was really like any other day,” he said.
Several soldiers volunteered on Thursday to do some more work, according to spokesman Lt. Col. Charles “Kip” Patterson.
The U.S. military presence in Poland was cemented last year with the establishment of the Army’s Camp Kosciuszko in Poznan, the first permanent American base in the country.
Poland has also become a significant force in the U.S.-led NATO alliance since the 2022 full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. Ambassador to Poland Mark Brzezinski said the teamwork of American and Polish troops in Zagan this week highlighted the deepening bond between the two countries.
“When we say we stand shoulder to shoulder with Poland, we mean it,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “This is the true picture of solidarity and friendship between our people.”
