ACT Alert

Eastern Europe - 1/2006

Eastern Europe floods

Geneva, 20 April 2006

Romania - general situation

Just a few days before Orthodox Easter, many parts of Romania are still recovering from last year's floods that claimed scores of lives and destroyed houses, farmland and infrastructure worth hundreds of millions of dollars. A new calamity is now sweeping across 14 southern Romanian districts. The River Danube, swollen by heavy rains and melting snow following a harsh winter, is now flowing at a record 16,000 cubic meters per second, causing havoc in these Romanian provinces.

In Romania's western county of Timis, the country's worst-hit region in last year's floods, some people who were displaced last year have again been forced to leave their homes. A state of emergency has been declared in 12 counties. According to the weather forecast, the Danube will remain at its present level at least until mid-week, but more rain is expected, and experts warn of further flooding.

So far, the high water has flooded 40,000 hectares of farmland and submerged hundreds of houses, leaving thousands homeless and tens of thousands at risk. The most-affected counties are Dolj, Olt, Giurgiu, Calarasi, Ialomita, Braila, Galati, Tulcea and Constanta. Thousands of villagers have fled their homes, leaving all possessions behind as flood waters from the Danube spread across southern Romania. Nearly 5,000 people have been evacuated and housed in schools and hospitals as well as in tents. Thousands more are on standby for evacuation should the waters continue to rise. Towns flooded or threatened along the Danube include: Gruia, Calafat, Bechet, Corabia, Turnu Magurele, Zimnicea, Giurgiu, Oltenite, Fetesti, Galati, Braila, Tulcea.

Across the region, thousands of soldiers, civil defense and emergency workers and volunteers have been deployed around the clock to reinforce defenses, bolster dikes along the Danube and battle the churning waters, which are flowing at the highest level in more than a century. Authorities have started controlled flooding to divert water away from low-lying villages. In all, authorities plan to submerge about 90,000 hectares of fertile land in a 400-kilometer stretch along the Danube's northern bank, a major area for wheat and maize farming.

ACT member AIDRom Emergency Unit plans to assist evacuated flood victims from the villages of Rast, Negoi, Catane, Bistertul Nou and Bechet in the county of Dolj. These villages have been chosen as they have the largest number of displaced persons and AIDRom has a reliable implementing partner in the area - the Social Service of the Orthodox Archbishop Office from Craiova.

The greatest needs are currently non-perishable food and potable water for the displaced as well as those who have remained isolated in their homes. AIDRom is currently carrying out a needs assessment in the area and will provide the ACT Coordinating Office with further information as soon as possible.

AIDRom Emergency Unit has already started packing 500 family relief food parcels (sufficient for an average family of two adults plus two children), with 35-40 kg of non perishable food and 20 liters of mineral water, for immediate distribution following the assessment.

Serbia

ACT member Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization (EHO) has informed the ACT Coordinating Office that a serious flood situation in Vojvodina (Serbia’s northern province) is threatening. At the moment , settlements are not flooded, but are at high risk since the level of the Tisa River is rising daily, and it is predicted that it will reach record levels in a few days.

Local people are working day and night to protect their villages by repairing and reinforcing dams. EHO staff have visited two of the most-imperiled villages - Mosorin, with its 7-kilometer-long dam that is very weak, and Belo Blato, which lies 7.5 meters below the level of the Tisa. The dam at Mosorin has already cracked, but workers managed to repair it. The director of the Emergency Centre reported that the situation is deteriorating by the hour. The Mosorin dam is accessible only by boat, and the workers are also in jeopardy while working on the dam.

Currently the greatest needs are food, drinking water, boots, construction equipment and diesel fuel for the people working on dams and helping to build barriers to hold back the waters. The state has made some steps to cover these needs and has recently announced a state of emergency in some municipalities.

Should the Tisa flood, residents will have to be evacuated, and immediate emergency relief items will be needed. Agriculture in the area is practically already devastated since the water has already submerged arable land. There is also a high level of underground water threatening some settlements and undermining the foundations of houses.

EHO is currently in contact with ACT member Hungarian Interchurch Aid whose representatives plan to visit the threatened areas. EHO is making contact with all relevant emergency centres.

ACT member Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) is in contact with local member Philanthropy to start a water-purification project. ACT member Church World Service (CWS) is currently carrying out an assessment ,and International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) is discussing potential projects in response to the floods with an implementing partner.

NCA has taken the lead in contacting all ACT members in Serbia and will keep the ACT Coordinating Office informed of the situation. An appeal may be forthcoming.

Any funding indication or pledge should be communicated to Jessie Kgoroeadira, ACT Finance Officer.