Heavy rain across Romania

A new spell of heavy rainfall affected western and central Romania last weekend

Ştefan Stoica, 12.06.2023, 13:50

Counties in western and southwestern Romania are until
Tuesday under a code orange alert for heavy rain. Rainfall volumes are expected
to range from 40 to even 60 liters per square meter. Meteorologists have also
issued a code orange alert against severe instability for areas in the west,
southwest, center and the south, as well as for the Southern and Western
Carpathians. During the interval, heavy rain, electric storms and hail are
expected, as well as strong wind. The targeted areas were also affected by
heavy rainfall last weekend as well.

In Timișoara, the local sewage system was overrun.
Additionally, 50 tons of waste clogged the water filtering station. Timișoara was
under a code red alert against heavy rain, and all employees of the public
water utility and filtering stations had troubles coping. The fire department
also intervened in the wake on Sunday’s downpour in order to clear fallen trees
and drain water from a number of households, yards and social and economic
buildings in a nearby village. A RO-ALERT warning message was sent to the local
population. The city of Reșița in Caraș-Severin County in the southwest was
also affected by heavy rain. Firefighter teams responded to drain water from
dozens of courtyards and basements. Due to uprooted trees and debris, rail
traffic was disrupted. A train travelling from Timișoara to Reșița reported delays
while another one was cancelled.

In the northwestern county of Bihor, in the
city of Oradea, the wind uprooted several trees, damaging nearby cars. A
subterranean parking lot in a shopping center was flooded, in addition to a
number of access roads. In a nearby village, firefighters evacuated a woman
with walking disability who was stranded in her own home. Military firefighters
intervened in another 10 emergency missions to drain water from flooded
courtyards, cellars and garages. Rescuers used a number of electric pumps.
Inhabitants of various settlements in Bihor also received RO-ALERT warning
messages. Similar issues caused by the heavy rain were also signaled in Sibiu
and Alba counties. In Alba, dozens of households and basements were flooded on
Sunday evening in the wake of flash floods, while basements of residential
buildings were also flooded in the cities of Alba-Iulia and Blaj as the local
sewage systems were overrun. Early on Monday, rivers in Vâlcea and Gorj counties
were also under a code orange alert for floods, which unfortunately overlapped
with the code orange alert for heavy rain. (VP)