Government Aid for Flood-Hit People

Romanian authorities are on high alert, closely monitoring the southern regions of Romania, which were hit hard by heavy rains this week.

Roxana Vasile, 24.04.2014, 13:39

There seems to be no end to the heavy rainfalls in Romania. The dry winter kept tourists away, affecting guesthouse owners and tour operators and made farmers fearful that this year’s crops might be compromised. A harsh reversal in weather patterns has caused devastating floods in southern Romania at the very time people celebrated Easter.

Meteorologists say the rainy spell is here to stay, to the despair of people worst-hit by the floods. Hydrologists have issued a code orange alert against floods for 11 counties in the south and southwest, which is likely to be extended until Friday evening or Saturday morning. The forecast is heavy rain, electric storms, isolated hail and strong wind. In Bucharest, the command for emergency situations is holding daily meetings.

Deputy Prime Minister Liviu Dragnea has called on the prefects in these areas to urgently submit the action and intervention plans for critical areas, so as to ensure an efficient intervention on the ground. It is his opinion that mayors should be the first to maintain constant contact with the citizens whose households may have been affected.

Liviu Dragnea: “Please raise mayors’ awareness and involve them in these actions. It is important that each citizen should not feel abandoned by local, county or central authorities. Please pursue the same line of action as usual, in close cooperation with all the institutions of the County Committee for emergency situations. Any support you demand Bucharest will grant”.

If necessary, all specialized structures of the Interior Ministry are on standby to take action, especially to evacuate people, relocate them to safe areas and providing them with shelter pending an improvement in the situation. To prevent any further tragedies, after several people were killed last week, authorities have called on the locals not to take any risks in crossing the water or traveling in flood-hit areas.

In Teleorman County, where 27 villages and thousands of hectares of farmland are submerged and hundreds of households have been flooded, the Government sanctioned during Wednesday’s meeting the earmarking of some 12 million euros for urgent actions aimed at preventing and eliminating the effects of this past month’s floods.