Romania Under Bad Weather Alert

Romania has seen nothing but gloomy weather for weeks now. It has rained, it has snowed and the sun has not shown its face for over a month.

Mihai Pelin, 09.12.2014, 14:06

Romania has seen nothing but gloomy weather for weeks now. It has rained, it has snowed and the sun has not shown its face for over a month. News for the coming period is not good either, and temperatures will drop below the normal average this time of the year. Meteorologists have issued for Bucharest and 30 counties a code yellow warning for heavy rain, snow, glazed frost and gusty wind. Snow is expected to cover the mountain areas, in layers that will exceed 15-20 cm. It has been raining uninterruptedly in the south and south-east and specialists say the volumes of water will range between 25 to 50 liters per square meter.

The wind too will blow harder, especially in the south-east, where gusts will register speeds of up to 60 km per hour, and blizzard will affect mountain areas. In those parts the rain will slowly turn into sleet and snow, therefore glazed frost might appear over extended areas, especially in the morning hours. That is why traffic police officers recommend to drivers to drive carefully, to equip their cars with the necessary winter gear, not to tailgate, to avoid hitting the brake and to use mostly the engine compression brake.

The rain that has been falling for days has flooded over 1 thousand 3 hundred hectares of farmland, pastures and forests in Giurgiu County, in the south. Villages in the area have also been affected, as well as communal roads, but they can still be used. Also in the south, in Valcea county, dozens of households have been flooded and a bridge has been completely covered by water.

At the Emergency Command Centre set up in Bucharest, Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea has announced authorities are ready to evacuate people from certain areas in the south of the country, if need may be.

Gabriel Oprea: “Given the latest warnings, we may need to evacuate people from villages in the south, where it will keep raining. That is why we are calling on prefects and mayors to prepare in advance proper accommodation for those people.”

Minister Oprea has also asked for a clear situation of the people who need permanent medical care in those counties where flooding might block the roads.

The bad weather has also hit Romania’s neighbor Bulgaria, where more heavy rain, snow and glazed frost will be reported in most areas. The Romanian Foreign Ministry has warned that Romanian citizens who wish to travel to Bulgaria should take into consideration the warnings issued by the Bulgarian authorities and take all precautionary measures before hitting the road.