Eastern Europe is again suffering the consequences of its yearly spring floods which this year are mostly affecting areas of Hungary, Ukraine and Romania. The floods have swept over 11 districts in Romania, severely affecting some 170 communities. Up to 5,000 people have fled their homes, seeking shelter in ‘safer’ parts of the country.

The Ecumenical Association of Churches in Romania (AIDRom) is proposing the following assistance for the most vulnerable flood affected in Romania.

• Food distribution
• Shelter
• Water & Sanitation

Being the only ACT member in Romania with an overall responsibility for emergency response in the country, AIDRom is also looking at issues of disaster preparedness at the country level, which is also addressed in this appeal.

Project Completion Date: 31 December 2001

Signed by:
Thor-Arne Prois, ACT Coordinator
Geneviève Jacques, Director, Cluster on Relations, World Council of Churches
Rudolf Hinz, Director, Department for World Service, Lutheran World Federation

REQUESTING ACT MEMBER

• Ecumenical Association of Churches in Romania - AIDRom

ACT MEMBER & PARTNER INFORMATION

AIDRom is the Ecumenical Association of Churches in Romania, a non-governmental body, whose primary aim is to ensure an ecumenical co-operation between the member churches (Romanian Orthodox, Hungarian Reformed, German Lutheran) on common issues of interest such as education, mission, social and diaconal matters, ecology, training for transformation - as well as financially assisting various ecumenical projects of these churches, through the co-ordination of the Bishops Offices. Since 1991 AIDRom has, through its Emergency Unit, been actively involved in the process of helping victims of various natural disasters (1991 earthquake in Banath region, 1991 flood in Moldavia, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 floods in Transylvania, Moldavia and Southern Romania).

ACT Member's Implementing Partners

• Orthodox Bishops Office of Maramures
• Orthodox Mitropolian Office of Suceava
• Orthodox Archbishops Office of Cluj
• Western Reformed Bishops Office "Kings Cross"
• Reformed Bishops Office of Transylvania
• Orthodox Bishop Office of Bistrita-Nasaud
• Local Mayor Offices and Administrative Councils from the affected areas

DESCRIPTION of the EMERGENCY SITUATION

Background
Towards the end of January 2001, huge amounts of snow fell over the whole country, particularly in Transylvania, a region dominated by hills, mountains and rivers. After the problems caused by the heavy snowfalls, when many towns, cities and villages were completely cut off and paralyzed, the unexpected warm weather from early March again brought tragedy to the Romanian people. Usually spring is a symbol of renewal and joy, but this spring started with a crisis for north-west Romania. At the time when the country urgently needed water for next year’s crops, it came in the form of devastating floods.

In the week of 3 March north-west Romania saw heavy snowfalls and rains (from 100 to 200 l/m2). Starting 4 March, the temperature rose to 15 degrees Celsius, causing snow and ice to melt. This was the first sign of a coming tragedy, which was concluded by massive rainfalls on 6 - 7 March. By the morning of 8 March 10 counties of Romania were under water. As a result the rivers in north western Romania rose above danger levels, the worst being the Tisa River. Eleven Romanian counties were affected by the floods: Maramures, Bihor, Bistrita-Nasaud, Suceava, Satu Mare, Harghita, Cluj, Salaj, Hunedoara, Alba and Botosani.

The massive flooding caused widespread destruction and the evacuation of nearly 4,000 people. The Romanian Government failed to respond to the large-scale needs of the local population as it did not have any disaster preparedness strategies for the high flood risk areas.

Current Situation
As it was the case in the previous years, the most affected people are the small farmers and families dependant on their own agricultural production.

Damages
The following settlements/ infrastructures were affected:

• 172 villages and towns
• 3,616 houses
• 57.8 km dams
• 340 small bridges and footbridges
• 213.84 km national, local and village roads
• 147 km forest roads
• 6 km of electric distribution lines
• 0.5 km of railways
• 1 km of water supply systems
• 31 constructions (dams and levees)
• 12,431 hectares of agriculture land
• 3,723 persons evacuated
• a damaged water supply station in Sighet town.

The value of the damages estimated so far is 637 billion lei (26.6 M USD).

There are no casualties reported to date.

The most affected regions are:

• Maramures, the villages of Teceu, Remeti, Cimpulung, Sighet by the rivers Tisa, Viseu, Iza, Tur, Somes.
• Bistrita-Nasaud, the villages of Uriu, Petru Rares, Cuzdrioara by the river Somes, Unirea, Sarata, Prundu Bargaului on the river Bistrita
• Satu Mare, the villages of Lunca Apei, Potau, Martinesti, Berindan, Culciu on the river Somes
• Suceava, the villages of Milisauti, Darmanesti, Bilca, Vicovu de Sus, Straja on the river Suceava, Baia, Cornu luncii, Braiesti, Malini on the river Moldova
• Botosani, villages of Sulita, Lunca, Stauceni on the river Sitna, Joldesti, Fantanele, Dolhasca on the river Siret, Stiubieni, Vlasinesti, Stefanesti on the river Baseu

Learning from past experiences, many people submitted applications to different insurance companies in order to insure their real-estates and assets, but they were systematically refused with an explanation that they are unwilling to take a responsibility for areas with such a high risk of flooding. Since the first floods in Romania local and regional authorities have been appealing to the Government for financial support to build strong and resistant dams and to reinforce the embankments where possible, but the stage of promises has never been passed due the lack of funds in the National Budget.

Location for Proposed Response
AIDRom will work in the most affected counties: Maramures, Bistrita-Nasaud, Botosani, Suceava, Cluj, Harghita and Bihor. AIDRom's implementing partners will provide information and specifics about the most affected families and communities. As in previous years, beside AIDRom's implementing partners, the local Mayor Offices will take part in the aid action initiated and led by AIDRom.

GOAL & OBJECTIVES

AIDRom seeks to help the most vulnerable families whose houses and farms were completely or partly washed away by the flood and who are now forced to stay in temporary, provisional shelters. The help would consist of construction material necessary to build a new shelter for each family, which later on could be transformed into a regular family house (especially for families whose houses suffered severe damage or were destroyed).

The proposed assistance will also comprise the following elements:

• food parcels comprising corn and wheat flour, rice, canned food (meat and vegetable), sugar, vegetable oil, butter and cottage cheese.
• seeds for re-plantation, especially potato and sugar beat for affected farms
• rehabilitation of vital infrastructure for the most affected villages, especially drink-water wells, fountains and channels.

 TARGETED BENEFICIARIES

Number and Type of Target Beneficiaries

• 117 rural farming families whose houses was completely or partially lost in the flood
• 27 villages where the rehabilitation of the drink-water net (either natural springs, fountains or artificial channel systems) is urgently needed
• 4 villages where small, pedestrian bridges have been destroyed, separating two sides of the community and limiting the access to civil buildings such as schools, medical dispensaries, church, markets or others.
• 90 families from 8 villages will receive basic foods parcels
• 5 farms will be helped with seeds for re-plantation

Utilized Criteria in Beneficiary Selection

• Those families whose houses were completely washed away and the number of persons per family is the highest
• Most vulnerable, poor communities where there are no other possibilities for the rehabilitation of the drink-water sources
• Where important areas of agriculture have been severely affected

Type of Proposed Assistance
Assistance will consist of distribution of construction materials, food and drinking water.

PROPOSED EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE & IMPLEMENTATION

• For 67 vulnerable families whose homes were destroyed all basic commodities for house reconstruction will be provided directly (in order to build a house corresponding to the minimum requirements): bricks, cement, construction wood and sand, roof tiles, iron plates, reinforced concrete, ferroconcrete.
• For about 50 families whose houses were severely damaged materials for repairs will be provided. The help would also consist of basic shelter materials and some insulation and construction materials, bedding, furniture and blankets
• For those rural settlements where bridges (5) or water wells (27) need to be repaired, funds will be allocated to the account of the local Mayor Offices, which will take the necessary decisions as to use of these funds for the most urgent rehabilitation. Funds will be used exclusively for the acquisition of construction materials and channeling equipment (pumps, pipes, wires, etc) for drinking-water.
• In 5 villages where agricultural farms (potato and sugar beat lands) were totally destroyed the communities urgently need funds for the rehabilitation of the destroyed lands and procurement of seeds.
• In 8 villages basic food parcels will be distributed to 90 families

As the major part of the rehabilitation cost/expenses will be undertaken by AIDRom, other costs such as transportation and technical personnel should be assured by the Mayor Offices.

Implementation Description

Private persons will be helped through the local churches, whose ministers will provide the Bishop Offices with information about the most vulnerable families needing assistance based on the selection criteria presented above. The Bishop Offices will decide on the amount which will be allocated to each family. After information has been received from all the affected regions, the Bishop Offices will send their needs to AIDRom, which will transfer, according to its possibilities (depending upon funding received from ACT International) the requested amounts to the Bishop Offices. In their turn the Bishop Offices will send the available founds to the churches, with the specification of financial help to be allocated to each family. According to the size of financial assistance, each family will decide which are the most urgently needed construction items.

The procurement of the necessary items will be coordinated by the local church and its presbiterium, which will be responsible for locating the closest procurement site (local or regional) as well as the cheapest means of transportation. The (re)construction works will be carried out by each family using its own physical resources, or by appealing for volunteer help.

Community interest settlements (bridges, water springs, channels, wells) will be rebuild or repaired by the local Mayor’s office, which will apply for financial assistance directly to AIDRom. After analyzing the incoming request, based on the gravity of the situation, AIDRom will decide the amount to be allocated to each community.

The Mayor’s Offices will be advised to find the most convenient procurement places, for construction and technical equipment. The Mayor’s Offices will use its own resources concerning transportation and technical staff for the necessary work and will also appeal for voluntary participation from the population.

Transition from Emergency
Having visited several affected areas, the Prime Minister of Romania said that major investments must be made in those areas to prevent further losses in the future. President Iliescu decided to convene the Supreme Council for the Defense of the Country. As far as investments are concerned the secretary general of the Ministry of the Environment estimated that about 15 thousand billion lei would be needed to support a disaster preparedness strategy.

AIDRom is planning to organize a 5-day seminar for all implementing partners having to deal with floods every year. The aim is to examine lessons learned from past programs and to look into various aspects of co-operation. Beside the participants, emergency and rapid response specialists will be invited from within Romania and abroad.

ADMINISTRATION, FINANCE, MONITORING & REPORTING

Administration
Procurement and all related activities will be done according ACT Guidelines. Procurement and distribution of all necessary construction materials will be the responsibility of the local church presbiterium . The Presbiterium will be supervised by the local ministers, who will send regular updates to the Bishop Office. The Bishop’s Offices will submit interim reports to AIDRom.

The local mayors and administrative councils will be responsible for the rehabilitation of settlements. Each local Mayor will report directly to AIDRom Emergency Unit in Bucharest.

Finance Management and Controls
Finance controls will be carried out by the AIDRom Emergency Unit who will report to ACT Coordinating Office according to ACT Reporting Guidelines.

• Each Bishop’s Office will appoint a counsellor from the Bishop’s Council to be in charge of accounting. The counsellor will send his reports and remarks to AIDRom. Beneficiaries will be requested to sign a protocol which will confirm the type and quantity of received materials and the current value of them.
• The Mayor’s Offices will keep a record of all transactions in the official accounts. Allocation of funds have to be authorized by the Mayor.

Monitoring Procedures will be assured by:

• Bishop’s Offices, who will appoint a counsellor-in charge to make on-site project controls on the stage of implementation, use of founds, etc. AIDRom's Emergency Unit will also make such kind of inquiries through its coordinating officer.
• In each village, beside the Mayor who will be in charge with the supervision of the rehabilitation process, one member of the village council (regularly the financial and economical advisor) will send financial reports to AIDRom, which will be signed also by the official bookkeeper of the Mayor Office.

IMPLEMENTATION TIMETABLE

Project Assessment: March 2001
Start Up: April 2001
Implementation: April – October 2001
Close Out: December 2001

COORDINATION

The coordination will be done by the ACT member of Romania - AIDRom - through its Emergency Unit, together with the help of the Bishop Offices participating in the aid program and the local Mayor Offices. AIDRom will maintain close contact with the implementing partners and will request program and financial reports on regular basis.

Coordination meetings will be held by AIDRom Emergency Unit once a month on various affected sites, with the participation of Bishop counselors and Mayors from the affected regions in order to review the progress of reconstruction and rehabilitation process and to identify further needs.

BUDGET

Exchange Rate : 1 USD = Romanian Lei 27,293