Disastrous Floods in Romania
PM Ciolos Tuesday asked local authorities to assess the damages caused by extreme weather.
România Internațional, 21.06.2016, 13:16
For more than two weeks now, Romania has been facing extreme weather phenomena: heavy rainfalls, floods, thunderstorms, flash floods, hailstorms and extreme heat. The bad weather caused substantial material damages and even left behind casualties.
The loss of human lives in the wake of these extreme weather conditions is regrettable, PM Dacian Ciolos said on Tuesday during a conference call with the prefects around the country. He asked the local authorities to come up with an assessment of the damages, so as to be able to assist the victims, as well as with forecasts for the coming period, in order for adequate measures to be taken and future damages to be avoided. As the head of government put it, “such extreme weather phenomena, with a major impact on some towns and villages, have occurred for several weeks now in various parts of the country, and we requested an analysis of the current situation where damages have been reported and the forecasts for the ensuing period.
The most recent episode was reported late last week, when 12 counties in the north, north-west, centre and south-west of the country were subject to a code-yellow alert for heavy rainfalls and thunderstorms. Also, in 11 counties in the east, west and south-west a code-orange flood warning was in place.
According to a report issued by the Interior Ministry, around 2,000 police, gendarme and fire-fighters worked over the past few days to assist the people in the regions affected by these problems. The strong wind destroyed the roofs of hundreds of houses and left tens of villages without electricity. In other areas, hundreds of households, streets and roads were flooded. In the north-eastern county of Suceava tens of tourists found themselves stranded in guesthouses after a flash flood. The intervention of military fire-fighters was necessary in order to rescue them and the locals. In yet other parts of the country, hailstorms destroyed the roofs of hundreds of homes and thousands of hectares of farm land. In the Jiu Valley area in the south-west, hailstones the size of chicken eggs caused substantial damage.
Meanwhile, whereas the northern and western part of the country struggles with thunderstorms, downpours and floods, the centre, south and east of Romania is facing extreme heat and severe thermal discomfort.
