Panta rhei
Added 2024-09-17 17:08:05 +0000 UTCThe last few days have been disastrous for a big part of central Europe. Heavy rains across Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania turned the streams in mountain areas into roaring rivers, which flooded huge areas. Lives were lost, property destroyed. The devastation is huge. Many places of cultural heritage were affected, like this 16th-century bridge in Lądek-Zdrój, with a statue of st. John Nepomucene swept away.
(image source: WhiteMAD)
Priest John Nepomucene was drowned in Prague in 1393 by the order of Czech king Venceslaus, and was canonized by the Catholic Church - one of this saint's "powers" is to protect from floods and drowning. Statues of Nepomuk are very popular in this part of Europe. They are usualy placed near or on bridges.
I wanted to make a mini of one at some point, now due to these sad circumstances I have an impulse to do it, to raise awareness about the disaster. Here it is, for all on Thingiverse, Printables and in the repository (also without the postument).
Damage of the 460-years-old bridge and washing away of the 18th-century statue of Nepomuk is very symbolic. Floods do happen ocasionally in those parts, but so far it survived all of them, even the "Millenium flood" of 1997.
"Panta rhei" is Greek for "everything flows" or everything changes. But recently, the changes have been more and more drastic. The changes in the global temperatures this year made the seas heat up to record values. From the hot Mediterranean sea, the powerful storm Boris brought record amounts of water which now have affected so many people. The effects of climate change unfold right in front of our eyes.
Thankfully, I live in the boring central part of the country, far from disasters, except some storms once every couple of years. But now these violent events start happening more often.
The floods are not over, waves are travelling down the rivers and more cities are bracing.
If any of you live in the affected areas, let us know. Also, if you would like to help, here are some trustworthy fundraisers organizing aid, if you know of any others, post them in the comments:
Polish Humanitarian Action:
https://www.pah.org.pl/en/what-we-do/sos/floods/
Polish Red Cross:
https://www.every.org/polish-red-cross-pl
German Red Cross (choose "Hochwasser Osteuropa")
https://www.drk.de/spenden/privatperson-spenden/jetzt-spenden/
