Romania expects the flood on the Danube next week

The authorities announced on Thursday that they are monitoring the entire Danube sector that crosses Romania, as a flood is expected that will lead to an increase in the water level until the end of the month. During September 28-29, the flow will be more than double compared to this period, but specialists do not expect any special problems unless the flood lasts a very long time.

“The Minister of the Environment, Waters and Forests, Mircea Fechet, convened, today, in a hybrid format, the Ministerial Committee for Emergency Situations (CMSU), established at the MMAP level. The extraordinary meeting of the CMSU was organized to analyze the hydrological situation of the Danube in the existing hydrometeorological context upstream of our country, where the significant amounts of precipitation produced very high flows of this river. The experts from INHGA informed that the flow on the Danube, at the entrance to the country (Baziaş section), in the interval 18-19.09.2024, was increasing, having the value of 4,200 cubic meters / second, above the multi-annual average of September (3,800 mc/s)”, the Ministry of the Environment sent in a press release.

The Ministry states that, based on current data, prognostic estimates received from Hungary and Serbia and taking into account the contribution of the other important tributaries of the Danube downstream of Budapest (Drava, Sava, Tisa and Morava), without significant additional contribution of precipitation in the entire hydrographic basin of On the Danube upstream from the entrance to the country, as a result of the propagation of the previously formed floods on the Danube and its tributaries, on the sector upstream of Budapest (especially in Austria), the flows in the Bazias section will increase to maximum values ​​of 9,200-9,500 cubic meters / second, between September 28-29.

“The downstream Gruia Danube sector is protected against floods by damming works. Based on the current information, the possibility of the emergence of special problems as a result of the spread of floods on the Romanian sector of the Danube is not forecast, but a careful monitoring of the evolution of the hydrometeorological situation in the Danube basin upstream of the entrance to the country is necessary”, the institution added.

According to the ministry, in the period 2020-2024, there were also floods with maximum flow values ​​at the entrance to the country in the range of 9,500 – 10,500 cubic meters / second, which did not generate special problems, with flooding effects on the Romanian sector, as follows: June 2020 – 9,600 mc/s, February 2021 – 10,500 mc/s, December 2023 – 9,600 mc/s.

“Beyond the capacity of defense dikes and hydrotechnical works, we must not be relaxed at all, we must make sure that the institutions of the Ministry of Environment are prepared, are on alert and know how to act when the situation requires it. We all see that we are facing a reality that exceeds the statistics (…) I also request the reverification, in this interval, of the areas where there were problems in the past, for example where there were breaches or where there is bank erosion”, emphasized the Minister of the Environment, Mircea Fechet.

ANAR specialists informed that on the course of the Danube, on the Borcea branch, some critical points were identified, which require increased attention: the Bentu-Stelnica-Borduşani area, but also in the Ciocăneşti area. “At the levels that are currently forecast by INHGA, we estimate that only in this sector – downstream from Călăraşi to Hârşova, the water will reach the foot of the dam, but we remain within the limit of below 9,500 mc/s. In the event that the situation will change in the next few days and we will reach flows of 13,500 mc/s, we can mention that the crowns of the dams will not be exceeded on any sector on the Danube. Problems can arise, however, if the flood lasts for a long time”, the Ministry of the Environment also transmitted.

Danube embankment in Budapest transformed into a lake near the Parliament