I MAY NEED WEBBED FEET IF THIS GOES ON!!

bb1 wrote:Sighs of relief in Budapest then, LL? Hope everything in its path is as well-protected?

Budapest Times. Posted on 10 June 2013, Author: Robert Hodgson
Danube flood – Budapest “gets away with it”

Mayor tells Budapesters the city avoided major flooding after Danube reaches highest recorded level. Disaster management unit calls for continued vigilance.

Mayor of Budapest István Tarlós told television viewers on Monday morning that the capital had “probably got away with it” after the crest of the floodwave that had left destruction in its wake passed through the capital the previous evening. The Danube peaked at 8.91cm above its normal level at 8pm on Sunday, beating the previous record seen in 2006 by 31 cm.

The National Water Management Directorate’s coordination unit OMIT warned that emergency workers will not be able to breath easily for at least two or three days as the water level is dropping only very slowly, river defences are under great pressure and must be constantly monitored and maintained. At 11am on Monday, the Danube in Budapest had receded by only 5cm from the previous night’s maximum.

Army reservists and volunteers were among the hundreds who worked to build up sandbag defences at vulnerable points on Budapest’s Danube riverside before the flood wave crested on Sunday evening. No deaths have been attributed to the flooding in Hungary. “Apart from two attempted suicides there was no need to rescue anyone from the swollen Danube, and river police have no knowledge of any drownings,” Danube River Police director István Barnácz told reporters.

The main source of chaos as the city went back to work on Monday was the drivers who insisted on commuting into the centre despite despite the closure of the upper and lower embankment roads. The Hungarian Cyclists Club has called on Budapesters to help out by taking to two wheels and avoiding major traffic jams.

Defensive efforts must now be focused on the section of the Danube below Budapest, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told reporters on Monday morning while visiting Római part, the riverside neighbourhood in District III, north Buda, that saw the worst of the flooding in the capital. “A lengthy stretch of the river must be defended to the south, so the key question now is the sensible distribution of resources”, Orbán said.

So far only 1,315 people have had to be evacuated as a result of flooding, Interior Minister Sándor Pintér told parliament later in the morning. That is less than a tenth of the number forced to flee their homes in the Czech Republic last week. Emergency workers and volunteers are currently building up the river defences on 802 kilometres of Hungary’s stretch of Europe’s second longest river.