2005 European floods
The 2005 European floods hit mainly Romania, Switzerland, Austria and Germany, as well as several other countries in Central Europe and Eastern Europe during August 2005. The disaster came at a time when Portugal was suffering from intense forest fires which left 15 dead and days before the powerful Hurricane Katrina hit the United States.
Death toll
The death toll was 62, with 31 dead in Romania, 20 in
Affected regions
Romania
Romania was the most affected by the 2005 floods, as it was faced with the most powerful and widespread floods and also the highest loss of life, with 31 dead. Total damages are estimated to be valued at more than 5 billion lei (€1.5 billion).
In mid August, the North-East region of Romania was heavily affected, with 1,473 evacuated from their homes in Iași, Suceava and Botoșani starting from 16 August. In Suceava county, 555 km of roads were affected, while nearly 600 bridges were flooded, resulting in the flooding of 520 houses, 16 of which were significantly destroyed. Several communications networks, particularly electric cables and optical fibres, were also affected.
Before it had ended, on 22 August 2005, the
Floods were particularly acute in the central county of
In northwestern Romania, the counties of Bihor and Cluj were also affected, although on a smaller scale than Harghita. In Cluj County, over 100 houses were flooded, with the flooding centred on the town of Turda. Railway lines in the county were also closed. The localities of Popeşti, Suplacu de Barcău and Valea lui Mihai were affected in Bihor County.
Central Europe and the Alpine region
The
The
The floods also meant the temporary closure of many mountain passes, amongst them the
The town of
were also affected by flooding in August.Other countries
Bulgaria and Moldova were also affected, though to a lesser extent. In Bulgaria, three months of rain and flooding killed 20 people and left 14,000 homeless. The country was hit by further floods in August (normally a very dry month), though these did not cause such widespread damage, but caused damage to the year's crops, causing an increase in the price of fruit and vegetables. Moldova was also hit by torrential rains in August.
References
- ^ 22 August 2005. "s-a mutat în nordul Moldovei", Gândul (in Romanian), via archive.org. Google translation (Romanian to English) of the archived article "Inferno moved to Northern Moldavia", gandul.info via archive.org. Accessed 24 April 2012.
- ^ Juhász, András, Catastrophe near by the rivulet Fehér-Nyikó Archived 2013-12-02 at the Wayback Machine and Became a vale of tears Archived 2013-12-02 at the Wayback Machine, Weather Underground, wunderground.com, 2005-9-17. Accessed 2012-4-24.
- ^ Basescu, Traian, Not ready for changed climate Archived 2013-12-10 at the Wayback Machine, Google translation (Romanian to English) of the archived article Nu suntem pregătiţi pentru noul tip de climă, gandul.info via archive.org, 2005-8-27. Accessed 2012-4-25.
- 24 August 2005. "Floods cause havoc across Europe" at BBC News. Accessed 28 August 2005.
- 25 August 2005. "European Flood Deaths Rise To 42" at CBS news. Accessed 28 August 2005.
- 25 August 2005. "Ultimele inundaţii au ucis încă zece oameni, iar alţi cinci au fost daţi dispăruţi" at Gardianul (in Romanian). Accessed 31 August 2005.
- 26 August 2005. "Europe counts cost of flood chaos" at BBC News. Accessed 28 August 2005.
- 27 August 2005. "Flood risk across Europe subsides" at BBC News. Accessed 28 August 2005.