Orban Cancels Foreign Trips As Floodwaters In Central, Eastern Europe Wreak Havoc

By RFE/RL's Hungarian Service and RFE/RL's Romanian Service September 16, 2024

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he has canceled all of his "international obligations" as his country braces for floodwaters that have already ravaged much of Central and Eastern Europe, where several people have died in the wake of torrential rains from Storm Boris.

Orban, who was scheduled to speak this week at the European Parliament, said in a social media post on September 16 that "due to the extreme weather conditions and the ongoing floods...I have postponed all my international obligations."

Days of relentless rainfall have unleashed catastrophic flooding in the region, forcing mandatory evacuations and causing widespread devastation.

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony took to Facebook to warn residents that the largest floods in a decade were expected to reach the city during the week, triggering a breach of the capital's lower quays on September 17 as water levels on the Danube River jump.

Emergency crews have been filling hundreds of thousands of sandbags to help protect the city from the rising water levels.

In Romania, at least six people died and two more were missing as residents and authorities battled heavy rainfall and floodwaters over the weekend.

Around 20 municipalities in eight Romanian counties were severely affected by the flooding, with thousands of homes damaged and tens of thousands affected or evacuated. Floodwaters in some areas were 3 meters high.

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced temporary shelters for people endangered by the floodwaters during a visit to one of the northernmost affected counties, Galati. The government will hold an extraordinary meeting to decide on aid measures for those affected by the floods in Galati and Vaslui.

Meanwhile, adding to the misery in Romania, the country was hit on September 16 by an earthquake measuring 5.2 on the USGS scale. The temblor was felt in the capital, Bucharest, although no injuries or damage have yet been reported.

Water management officials in neighboring Moldova on September 16 instituted a Code Red from 6 p.m. local time due to the risk of major flooding.

The Czech Republic and Poland have also seen rivers burst their banks over the weekend, with officials still warning of problems as they look to assess the damage.

The Polish government was due to meet on September 16 when it is expected to announce a state of disaster.

Towns along the Czech-Polish border have been particularly hard hit, with schools closed, tens of thousands of households left without electricity, and debris strewn about the streets.

"We need bottled water and dry provisions, because we have also set up a point for flood victims evacuated from flooded areas," Michal Piszko, mayor of the Polish town of Klodzko along the Czech border, told private broadcaster RMF FM.

Downstream from Klodzko, officials in the Polish city of Wroclaw, home to around 600,000 people, were still waiting for water levels to peak on the Oder River.

With reporting by Reuters and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/orban- cancels-foreign-trips-as-flood-waters-in-central-and- eastern-europe-wreak-havoc/33121948.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.