In September, the southwestern regions of Poland experienced floods on a scale comparable to the so-called flood of the millennium in 1997. Losses in the regions affected by the crisis were estimated at billions of PLN, and there were also fatalities. Two months after these events, we decided to ask respondents in areas where someone had suffered from the flood to assess the government's actions related to eliminating its effects. As it turned out, as many as half of them were disappointed with the pace of these actions, although at the same time most respondents admitted that life in their area had already returned to normal.

Are the flood damage removal activities being carried out:

Are the effects of the flood in your area:

Although the flood was exceptionally devastating, our nationwide survey shows that the opposite problem is much more common throughout Poland, i.e. droughts. Most Poles (69%) have experienced periods of drought in their area, and a quarter observe them regularly every year or almost every year. On the other hand, 28% of respondents have encountered floods and inundations in their area, and only a few see them regularly.

Do the following natural disasters occur in your area:

The vast majority of respondents (71%) who claim that droughts affecting the state of nature and agriculture occur in their area indicate that they have been more frequent in recent years than before. Moreover, the percentage of such opinions has increased by 9 percentage points over the last three years. In the case of floods, the belief that they occur as often as before is still dominant, although the share of people who believe that they have occurred more often is not small at all and amounts to 39%, the same as in 2021.

To the best of your knowledge, have the periods of drought that affect the state of nature and agriculture:

Respondents who noted an increase in frequency of droughts, floods or inundations were asked what, in their opinion, caused these phenomena to occur more frequently than before. The most common reason for the increase in the frequency of these disasters was climate change (81%). In this context, they also mentioned the cutting down of forests or trees in general (52%), too intensive development in the area (45%), increased greenhouse gas emissions (39%), the elimination of natural water reservoirs and wetlands (34%), poor condition of flood protection (29%) and excessive regulation of rivers (22%).

What causes these disasters to be more frequent now than before?