Consequences of torrential rain and storms
Extreme weather has caused damage in tens of localities across Romania in recent days.
Corina Cristea, 18.06.2018, 13:52
The Romanian authorities have declared a state of alert in several counties following powerful storms and heavy rain in recent days. Dozens of bridges have been swept by the water and many streets, roads and crops have been flooded. In some cases, the damage caused to cereal crops, grapes and tomatoes is at 70%, according to farmers, who have given up all hope of a profit this year. Reports show that heavy rain and flash floods have damaged dozens of homes, basements, yards and gardens, economic sites, outbuildings, cars, wells and sections of roads.
According to the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, army rescuers used high-capacity motor pumps, trucks, boats and special vehicles. The waters have subsided to leave behind mud and reveal the dejecting landscape of the damage caused. The National Meteorological Service had even issued a red code warning for torrential rain, thunderstorms, hail and heavy wind in Galati county, in eastern Romania. Valcea, in the south, is one of the counties most severely affected. It was particularly bad in Calimanesti, where in one night it rained as much as in one month. One man, aged 60, died in the flash flood.
In Vrancea county, in the east, the army firefighters were called in to rescue a shepherd and 200 animals stranded on an island in the middle of Siret river. Rescuers used boats to take the man and the animals to safety. In the south of the country, in Teleorman, train travel was temporarily disrupted because of a fire caused by lighteningto the locomotive of a train with around 100 people on board. Electricity black-outs were reported in dozens of localities, mostly in the counties of Bacau, Iasi and Vaslui, in the eastern part of the country.
In Bucharest and other cities, the streets have been flooded and traffic disrupted in some areas. A 2 km-long traffic jam formed at the entrance to Bucharest on the motorway linking the capital city to the Black Sea coast, because of the traffic restrictions imposed due to flooding.
