Although Hungary is facing the biggest flood since 2013, today’s defensive capabilities are much more developed than at that time, said the parliamentary state secretary of the Ministry of the Interior and the vice president of the KDNP at a press conference in Budapest on Tuesday.
RétvárBence Rétvári said that compared to a week ago, the water level will be 6-6.5 meters higher in the Szigetköz, the Danube Bend and in Budapest, the water flow will be five times higher at the peak, and a 400 percent increased amount of water will flow along the river.
The state secretary recalled that people died due to the flood in neighboring countries and transportation became impossible in many places.
However, Hungary takes up the fight in a coordinated manner and protects the lives, safety and property of the Hungarian people, since significant flood protection developments worth HUF 150 billion have been implemented since 2013, such as the development of flood protection lines, reconstruction of works of art, constr
uction of new facilities and stormwater reservoirs, and riverbed management interventions have also been carried out since then”
– reported the state secretary.
He highlighted the Danube project, which affected 500 residents of 152 settlements, embankment development, strengthening and leakage protection on a 120-kilometer long defense line worth HUF 28 billion, as well as the water level rehabilitation of the Mosoni-Danube estuary section worth HUF 30 billion. The latter artefact serves as a floodgate and a complex protection system, he added.
Another HUF 14 billion worth of further large works of art were developed at Kassa, Dunakiliti, Nick and Baja”
– explained the state secretary, emphasizing that developments worth another HUF 100 billion are still underway.
But at the moment, intensive work is still needed on the dam, but at the same time, it is not necessary to prepare for short-term protection, it is not only necessary to count on the peak, as many problems can arise afterwards, also in the down
stream phase – pointed out Bence Rétvári, citing the dam breach as an example.
The state secretary said that protection is currently being carried out on 390 kilometers, in the evenings of 35 settlements, which is primarily organized by the mayors with the support of disaster management and water affairs.
Bence Rétvári also touched on the fact that the execution of the sentence also takes its share of the tasks, sandbags are also filled in the prisons, and the prisoners with a lighter grade can also join the defense outside the prison walls.
The police are present at nine locations, some roads are closed, others are also filling sandbags, and after the three settlements on Monday, the National Guard will arrive at another nine on Tuesday, so compared to 400 on Monday, 1,400 National Guardsmen will join the work on Tuesday. ”
– he said, adding that from Wednesday the territorial defense reservists will also be deployed in the area of ??Pilismaró.
Until now, one border station, Vámosszabadi, had to be clos
ed, because here the border crossing passes through the dam – reported the state secretary.
He noted that education is undisturbed, and health and social institutions are operating as usual.
Bence Rétvári thanked the civil guards and volunteer firefighters for their work, who, as he said, were among the first to get involved in the defense.
State leaders involved in the defense have canceled all their foreign programs until the situation on the dams is critical”
he reported about it.
The state secretary also spoke about the fact that local governments can typically request support for defense costs afterwards, but it is also possible to request a 50 percent advance.
The current flood wave is moving down the Danube at a water level that is 30-50 centimeters lower than during the 2013 flood, the head of the National Water Directorate General stated at a press conference in Budapest on Tuesday.
The construction of protective works has begun in all affected municipalities, which are 20-50 percent ready, so
their implementation will be completed successfully, by which time the peak water levels will be formed, said István Láng .
An additional 298 employees were transferred to the 1,500-kilometer state defense line. Two million sandbags were regrouped for state protection, and more than one million sandbags were provided to local governments, he added.
As he said: they expect that Lajta will peak at Mosonmagyaróvár on Wednesday night, the Danube at Szigetköz on Thursday morning, Gyor on Thursday night, Komárom on Friday morning, Esztergom on Friday afternoon, Nyergesújfalu on Saturday dawn, Vác on Saturday and Budapest on Saturday evening.
In the lower sections, they can handle the flood more safely”
he added.
According to his announcement, it became necessary to raise the embankment of the Lajta, which 200 soldiers helped with, there were further interventions in the Szigetköz, and in the area of ??Szigetmonostor, it was necessary to arrange the Danube bed.
The cooperation between the organizations, the wa
ter affairs, the national defense, the police, the civil guard, the penitentiary, and the disaster management is well-oiled”
István Láng said.
Zoltán Góra , head of the National Directorate General of Disaster Management, emphasized that disaster management carries out its activities under the technical control of the National Directorate General of Water.
He reminded that under ordinary circumstances the firefighters are on duty 24/48 hours, but in view of the extraordinary situation, in five counties, Gyor-Moson-Sopron, Komárom-Esztergom, Vas, Pest, Vas and Veszprém, they switched to 24/24 hour shift period.
Vas county supports the work of Gyor-Moson-Sopron counties, and Veszprém counties supports the fire fighters of Komárom-Esztergom and Pest counties.
On Wednesday, the Metropolitan and Nógrád County Disaster Management Directorates will also switch to this service schedule”
said Zoltán Góra.
Source: KDNP
