• 21/05/2022
• By wizewebsite
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Stories from Moravia through the eyes of reporter Smatana: We won't cry, take your gloves and pass the bricks!<

We talk on Sunday afternoon. How does it look in Moravská Nová Ves at the moment? It looks much better than it did on Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning. The progress of the works is truly admirable. Hundreds of volunteers, local people and friends of affected families drove here in large numbers, they really did an amazing job. The main street near the church is already basically cleaned, the area around the church is completely cleaned. Now there is a tractor driving here, which has put on a blade like an excavator. It sums it up towards the path. The containers are already in sufficient quantity. It creaked terribly at first. And when I look around, half of the houses that I can see already have blue roofs, which means they are covered. A car came here a while ago, bringing another 500 laths. That's enough for a smaller roof. Volunteers unloaded the laths, other people immediately arrive, according to how they agreed with the parish priest who is currently coordinating this part, and take them home. But of course otherwise it's just ruin, ruin. Everything is broken, it's probably not worth telling any more, everyone saw it. For now, the sun is shining on top of it all. It's thirty-two degrees today, so people are working in a dusty environment. Fortunately, there is running water here, no electricity, no gas, but the water is quite important.

How is electricity and gas being handled at the moment, how do people recharge their mobile phones to stay connected? There are power plants in front of the municipal office, or rather in what is left of it, people can go there to charge cell phones. But many people already have power plants at home, friends and acquaintances brought them to them. There are also a lot of craftsmen here, sometimes someone uses it, so that's for charging the phone. But otherwise they have to manage without electricity. That's the way it is at the moment, and I'm guessing it's definitely not going to be possible for a week, maybe two weeks yet. The mayor was telling me that the utility companies should put up some makeshift poles and run power lines above ground in that "Indian" way, at least initially, to get electricity to all the buildings. For example, on the eastern side, far beyond the village - about two kilometers, there is a playground. In that peripheral part, the electricity goes. I slept on that playground from Friday to Saturday, so I recharged what I needed there. There was even a shower. He houses the USAR team there. It's a little out of the way, so people without a car can't get there very quickly.

You already went to Moravia on Friday. How difficult was it to get to the site of the natural disaster? It wasn't difficult at all. I waited about half an hour before I worked my way to somewhere where I could park on some side street because maybe it was still in time, later it was much worse. The driveways were clogged on Friday night and all day Saturday. Now it's easier, after all, it makes more sense, it has more order. I think it works as it should now. But from the beginning, I think that complaining about someone or crying is simply not possible. I was a bit sad, for example, that the locals - I don't know who, I'll say in general, the organizers, the rescuers - were not able to create a passage through the streets so that the streets were one-way. In this way, trucks, tractors, cars, and passenger cars were always driving towards each other. That's why the streets were clogged here. And to take the container away, that was a rule. It took half an hour from here to there, unloading in line, half an hour back. But I feel that it is still better, that it works. And if you look at those people, the determination in their eyes is huge. Of course, the locals have to, they have no other choice, but the helping hand of those who only have gloves, shovels, some rakes and are constantly clearing away the rubble, so it's really like maximum effort.

The question, of course, is how long they will last. One coordinator from an unnamed humanitarian organization told me that usually in such situations, the first surge lasts a few days, a week at the most. Then people run out of strength, especially the volunteers. He returns somewhere to his work, to his jobs. There is perhaps a bit of an advantage here, that in a few days we have the holidays of Cyril and Methodius, Jan Hus, that means four free days. Humanitarian organizations and all will try to get volunteers from their ranks here to fill the space here. The question is, what will the volunteers do, because I have also been involved here several times, I worked for about four hours yesterday at the church, carrying beams, throwing bricks from the roof, but these are all jobs that we laymen, inexperienced amateurs, we can handle it. But on those roofs then load battens, stretch sails, start building walls, start putting bags, because I noticed that there are already new bags on several houses, or at least they took down two roofs, folded one of them... Someone had bags in the garden, so they succeeded. But many more professionals will be needed now. Roofers, carpenters, masons. Undoubtedly electricians. It's all been destroyed - masts, the wiring in the houses is broken. Chimney sweepers will be needed because a lot of chimneys were falling, not to mention antennas. But since there is no electricity, it doesn't really matter at the moment.

How are the locals, how do they cope? I'm sure you've talked to some of them in the three days you've been there. They're such sad stories, of course. For example, the school does not have a roof because the municipal buildings are among the tallest. Firefighters from Liberec settled there. They live there and manage the big roof.

I spoke with a local teacher who worked there for 38 years. It is said that she only started crying when she came to school. Not even when she saw her house.

But those people at the beginning... they are smiling. Their approach is to say, “Okay, we're not going to cry here now. Became. We survived it, we lost a lot of things, but we have to deal with it somehow. I'm not going to cry on your shoulder here, take your gloves, run over there and give me bricks." I also helped for a while in Květná Street, where I met René Hüble, and he beautifully explained that he is an optimist, or at least seems optimistic impression…

But he himself says that the moment when it will be more demanding is yet to come.

In the words of professional humanitarian workers, this is the first post-shock state, when people stand up and come to work with the help of relatives, friends, colleagues, but of course it has to get to everyone at some point. The question is whether it will be three days, a week... Because then there will be purely practical things, negotiations with insurance companies, documentation, papers, borrowing money, verification of all possible signatures. But where are you going to do it here? These things are going to be complicated. And I think that the big humanitarian organizations that have these things worked out quite well will then work very hard on that. So this will probably be the worst. The question is how long it will take for those people, when the greatest enthusiasm will pass, when the number of volunteers here will drop to dozens, when the firefighters will have to return to their bases, whether professional or volunteer.

Where do people live who have lost their roof over their heads? How is it resolved in the village now in this regard? Housing according to what I have seen and heard is not a major problem. Either those people live at home, so it hasn't rained yet, they cover their roofs with blue waterproof tarpaulins, or they've gone to visit relatives or friends. But really, housing is probably not the main problem that people here are solving. I think that everyone is somehow relatively under the roof. Even the older ones, who don't remember what it was like at a scout or pioneer camp, have mattresses spread out on the floor and sleep in a somewhat spartan way. But really, accommodation is probably not the main problem.

After all, Mayor Marek Košut from TOP 09 confirmed it to me.

How do the locals remember Thursday evening? That is, for the moment when a tornado swept through their village? I was interested in that. People said it took five minutes, three minutes, ten minutes. In the end, I think that the parish priest Marián Kalina was probably the most accurate, who showed me the clock on the church tower, I'm looking at it now, it's still five minutes to half past eight. That's when the tornado hit, those electric clocks stopped working. At that very moment, the parish priest was in the church, as he was leading a service for about 20 worshipers, and they took shelter in the sacristy.

The Sunday morning service was held under the church in the rectory garden, which surprisingly remained untouched. Only a few bags flew there. They turned on the power plant, connected the harmonium and speakers to it.

About 100 people came here in festive costumes, it felt quite special here among the ruins. Women in dresses, some men had jackets. But the firemen also came here, at least for a while, because they don't have that much time again. They listened to the pastor and continued their work.

The pastor mainly talked about hope, that it is not God's punishment, that it is a test and that the most important thing is hope. And for that he also dressed in the best priestly robes he had.

Tens, maybe hundreds of millions of crowns were collected in charity collections, not only from volunteers, but also from companies and enterprises. Has any help from these collections directly reached the affected people, for example in Moravská Nová Ves? The Labor Office set up a workplace here and on Sunday at half past eight in the morning it started paying out the first ones, I guess 58 or 57 thousand crowns, to those people who applied for a day , two before him who made it. But undoubtedly, if they did not come today, they will be able to come the next day. This is ready and they are getting this first aid. I asked what they say to state support of two million crowns plus three million crowns for a loan. The ones I've talked to think it can be fixed for the money. The question is who will take the loan, who is older for example, if they will not be able to take the loan on someone else. But, of course, that must be agreed with the state authorities, which will provide the loans through some banks. But five million is certainly an amount to repair a house here. But the question is when it will all be, when it will be processed, because the affected houses in the whole area are around 1200. It will take some time before it is administered.

Are the people you talked to interested in staying in that location, in Moravská Nová Ves, and repairing those houses? Or have you talked to someone who does not want to return, who will close the chapter? This is one of the richest areas, at least in terms of soil fertility and material goods, large families simply live here. For example, Května and Lipová streets are connected by interior spaces. In several places I have seen that various relatives live there, they will no doubt continue to stay there. People here have vineyards, but of course there will be no harvest this year. They have their plots, gardens here. Thinking about leaving is completely irrelevant. No one will move from here. Everyone wants to fix it very quickly and stay here because this is where their ancestors were born.

What is most needed on site right now? In the past, it was mainly debris containers. How is it now?Building material: laths, bags, wood, bricks, roofing, everything related to construction, building material. Then the heavy machinery, which will still be hauling piles of rubble. And then professionals who know how to handle the building material.

Nevertheless, isn't food, water, clothing, things that are also the subject of some collections around the country lacking at the moment, at least in Moravská Nová Ves? No, that's completely unnecessary in each of those areas. No food, no water, that's all here. This is what crisis teams provide here. Some blankets, that's completely out of line. First of all, it's terribly hot here, and secondly, the people have everything, they can manage somehow. Clothes are completely useless. They really welcome building materials and of course money here.

Who is helping everyone in Moravská Nová Ves now? You mentioned at the beginning that there was a USAR team in Moravská Nová Ves, are they still there? Who is still walking the streets now? I confess that I left that football field on Saturday morning. Then I slept in the parsonage, but I suppose they will still be there. Then there are the firefighters, there will be several hundred of them from different places. For example, I saw a large column of heavy machinery of professional firefighters from Pilsen-Košutka arriving here on Saturday morning. There are, of course, a lot of policemen who direct traffic and guard against looting. In addition to the mentioned humanitarian aid - right on the playground I saw a warehouse of some pâtés and biscuits. And I'm afraid that's where it's going to stay. Just as, for example, a lot of food, which is prepared for volunteers in front of the municipal office, simply spoils. All those baguettes... But there's nothing wrong with that. You simply can't estimate that in the first days. So people brought it here. Maybe a part will be thrown away, but they are very small, if you compare with the kind of disaster that happened here. The same, for example, small tools. There are hundreds of shovels that could be given away here at the municipal office, because they are no longer needed either. Everyone has such tools. But of course it is clear that at that first moment the onslaught of humanitarian aid was needed. And if there was more, then nothing happens. Those shovels don't spoil and the food gets thrown away.

Did you also talk to some volunteers who came to Moravská Nová Ves to help with the clearing of the trigger? I was interested, for example, in the rescuer Tomáš Kulhavý, who took the wounded away all night from Moravská Nová Ves, respectively from Hrušek...

... and then he came back here in the morning because his colleague from work, also a paramedic, has a house here, so he came here to help her.

A very interesting story stuck in my memory - it was Mrs. Věra, who also arrived among the first and helped here at the church.

What, on the other hand, is complicating life for the locals now? We talked about what the humanitarian aid had already brought. On the other hand, what is complicating life for the locals at the moment and what would be better if it didn't happen? Well, maybe if it were 10 degrees lower. Everyone would probably welcome that. Sure, they're glad it's not raining. On the other hand, the dust that the machines and everything from the roofs here is very unpleasant. We can tell that tourists are not welcome here, but I can't say if there were as many as they say. I saw a few people with cameras. Some of the cyclists slipped by to take a look. But I haven't yet registered that it would be a mass raid by "chumils". I think there are police officers here who may be directing these people as well. They won't even let them here. If you have a personal car, you come here and you cannot give a relevant reason why you are here, the police will deport you. And then, those people would have to come here on foot, and I don't think they would be too pleased to make their way two kilometers there and back here, they would have to be really quite peculiar individuals.

Are there any damage estimates already known, how many houses will have to be demolished in Moravská Nová Ves, how long will it take to return to normal? . It will probably be similar here. The local mayor couldn't figure it out at all. And assume you have 1,200 homes damaged, then multiply that by some millions. Then add to that the damaged municipal infrastructure, the roads that just need to be done, the power lines to be stretched, the gas supplies to be restored. In all those municipalities, it will be in the order of billions of crowns. But now we divine from the proverbial crystal ball. I probably won't tell you anything more about it.