Wrexham community raising money and donations for victims of Polish floods
ITV Wales' Ian Lang reports
An urgent donation drive has begun in Wrexham to get essential items like clothing and toiletries to people in Poland, in the wake of fatal floods.
Devastating weather hit parts of central Europe over the weekend, and thousands were told to evacuate their homes, as five times the average rainfall for September fell across the area.
In Wrexham, where there's a large Polish community, the Polish Integration Support Centre is appealing for aid they can transport to Poland over the coming days.
Anna Buckley, the centre's Director told us about a conversation she had with a woman in Poland.
"The lady said to me: Anna I don't think I will have anything, any place where I can come back, because I don't know where our house is, everything is flooded, it's like a massive river."
Anna said: "I can only imagine, the people, they haven't only lost their house, they lost their hope, they lost their belongings, they lost their heritage, and if someone lost their mum and dad, they can't find them, so I think when the water goes down, then the real disaster will happen."
Anne Greenlees is a volunteer at the centre, she says: "We need everything.
"Can you imagine? If I imagine, if my home was obliterated, what would I actually need, I'd need everything.
"So we're not just talking about money, we're talking about things that people actually have in their homes, and maybe have two our three of, like towels, sheets, things that people need to set up a home."
Dawn Roberts McCabe from the Association of Voluntary Organisations Wrexham said: "The flooding their means so much more because they don't have the infrastructure we have here in the UK, they don't have the response system we have, and they don't have the insurance systems in place to help them recover when this is over so my heart really goes out to them right now."
The centre is well-prepared for the task, having sent out around 80 lorries and raised more than £4 million for Ukraine.
They're hoping for a similar response to to flooding crisis in Poland.
"Each lorry to Poland costs me two thousand pounds," said Anna. "It depends which area, but between two thousand and three thousand pounds, it depends how far they have to go, and I want to send at least ten."
The hope is the public will respond, so aid can get to the victims.
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