Storms with casualties in Romania
Bucharest and several counties in the south of Romania were affected by powerful storms, resulting in casualties.
Leyla Cheamil, 18.07.2025, 14:00
Romania is facing these days extreme weather phenomena such as storms or heat waves, and meteorologists have issued a series of code yellow, orange and red alerts for unstable weather in recent days. Storms, hail and rain have caused significant damage in Bucharest and several counties in the country. Meteorologists have issued a code red alert, and the authorities have sent Ro-Alert messages, calling on the population to respect the preventive measures transmitted. In Bucharest, on Thursday evening, there were strong storms, which also caused casualties. The wind blew in Bucharest at over 90 kilometers per hour, tearing off pieces of roofs, and one of them hit a 49-year-old woman from Otopeni, near Bucharest, who lost her life. Two people were injured and, following medical evaluation on the spot, were transported to the hospital, conscious. Numerous vehicles were damaged, dozens of trees fell on cars and electricity poles, and pieces of roofs were torn off and landed on the streets.
The intervention crews worked to evacuate water from several houses and yards, to remove construction elements detached from the roofs of dozens of buildings, including two public institutions, to clear hundreds of trees and dozens of electricity poles that had fallen onto the roadway. Part of the roof also came off at the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” Police Academy, where several classrooms were flooded. Air traffic was affected, as was road traffic. 15 aircraft that were to land at the Henri Coandă International Airport were directed to remain in the air while waiting for weather conditions to improve, landing later with a delay. Three other flights were diverted to other airports. The south of the country was generally affected by storms. In Ialomiţa county, there was significant damage, over 30 households were flooded, and in the city of Slobozia, water covered the ground floor of a block of flats. In Prahova, more than 30 thousand consumers in 40 localities were left without electricity, an advertising billboard fell on a highway, while, in Mizil, an electric pole caught fire.
Other affected counties are Brăila, Buzău, Călăraşi, Constanţa, Tulcea, Argeş, Giurgiu and Teleorman, where firefighters were needed to remove pieces of roofs and trees torn by the wind that fell on cars and electricity poles. Extreme weather phenomena were also recorded in the northeast of the country, where several counties were under code orange and yellow alerts for significant rainfall. In turn, hydrologists issued flood warnings that targeted watercourses in almost three quarters of the country. (LS)
