No state sympathy as Romania is submerged

About EUR 59 million worth of damage, thousands of Romanians affected, and houses, bridges and roads destroyed. The presidency and government’s reaction: “People, why did you build your houses in the river’s way?” and “There are no state funds for future flood destruction.”

Dana Ciuraru

“What should I do? I have lost my house. There is nothing left. I have just the clothes I’m wearing right now. I would start again but I am old and weak. I do not even have a bottle of water to drink,” is how a woman in Saucesti described her plight after the recent floods.

“I and other colleagues were in the flooded area trying to help our compatriots when I was told that my house had been flooded too,” related a firefighter, who was helping in the rescue effort.

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Thousands of Romanians find themselves in the same situation, after their houses were destroyed by the waters that followed heavy rainfall in north-east Romanian villages, racking up a bill of EUR 59 million.

High-ranking authority figures including President Traian Basescu, Prime Minister Emil Boc and ministers such as Elena Udrea followed each other to inspect the affected areas – where they faced the people’s fury. On a visit to a region flooded by a river, the Romanian president asked residents of Patrauti village, who had been left homeless by the foods, why they had chosen to build their homes on the river bed: “Good fellows, why did you build your houses here?”, and “How come you chose the river bed for your house?”

And the danger isn’t over yet. Romania is still under threat from bursting river banks and the authorities are continuing the evacuation of people from the areas put on high risk alert in the eastern part of the country. Romanian water administrators announced that a dam in the southeastern county of Tulcea had given in to water pressure, adding that the partial evacuation of people, which started two days ago, will continue.

Cristian Roman, prefect of the northern county of Botosani, has also issued an evacuation order for areas on the Baranca-Radauti section of the Prut river, as the authorities said a new deluge is expected in the area. Meanwhile, several streets and households in the port city Constanta are waterlogged due to heavy rainfall.

State river of cash runs dry

Help is forthcoming from neither Victoria Palace nor Cotroceni Palace. President Basescu announced that Romania has “no resources” to change things for the better and warned people to prepare themselves for potential waves of floods in the future.

Speaking on public radio, Basescu said the country could not afford to bail people out in the event of any floods this fall or in 2011. He stressed that Romania will be vulnerable to even worse situations unless it continues to slash public spending and added, “It is very difficult to estimate the resources” needed to cushion the effects of the recent floods.

Basescu emphasized that the bulk of state budget revenues – 80 percent – is used on consumption, specifically, 30 percent goes on public sector salaries, 41 percent on social welfare, including pensions, 5 percent on paying off the country’s public debt and 5 percent on subsidies. The president noted that only 20 percent of the state budget is left for education, healthcare, the police and all the other state institutions.

Galati gears itself up for more flooding

Meanwhile, the Danube River’s flow will hit maximum figures at the end of next week in the flood-hit city of Galati, where the water level is expected to reach 687 centimeters. And authorities in the neighboring Republic of Moldova are working to reinforce dams and have warned that the risk of flooding is real, especially for the regions where the Prut flows into the Danube.

Nearly 1,400 firefighters and police officers from several counties are working to put up a makeshift dam in Galati, to protect the city against the upcoming floods. Boc said Monday that the situation in Galati was a top priority for local and central authorities, adding that the 4.5-kilometer long dam under construction is to be finished soon.

Galati prefect Cosmin Paun added that if the dam in Galati collapses, the economic losses will be huge, stressing that the closure of the regional customs office alone might trigger a loss of EUR 18.5 million per day. Paun said 8,000 people live in the floodable area and must be evacuated immediately if the dam gives way.

The area in Galati at risk of flooding hosts the largest economic operators in Galati, which provide nearly 12,000 jobs. Local authorities in Galati stressed that if the dam collapses, the country will face its worst urban disaster since the Second World War. Speaking about the Galati situation, President Basescu said that according to his own calculations the city would not be flooded.

“I add together the flow of the Prut and that of the Danube and it doesn’t result in a flood. A flood in Galati would be shameful for us all, a sign of the authorities’ inability, and it should not happen,” said Traian Basescu – a statement coming from someone who said “Romania is not in crisis.”

dana.ciuraru@business-review.ro