The water level of the Danube River in Hungary has begun to fall after reaching a maximum of 830 centimetres near Budapest on Saturday due to rising water levels in Austria and Slovakia following Storm Boris.
According to sources contacted by Efe, the flow of water from the Danube continues to threaten dams and dikes.
The summit was reached earlier than expected, although it did not reach the 850 centimetres planned. and was more than half a metre below the level of 2013, when Hungary’s largest river overflowed its banks in several areas of the country, the Water Authority reported, according to the Telex.hu website, cited by Efe.
The average height of the Danube in the area around Budapest, the capital it flows through, is about 300 centimetres.
“This will be the most difficult day of flood protection so far. Budapest is on 100% alert due to the surge,” said the progressive mayor of the capital, Gergely Karácsony, on Saturday morning.
In the north of the capital, Several streets near the Danube were under water on Saturday.
The mayor also warned of the risk of “leaks in dams and dikes” due to the strong and prolonged pressure of the river flow.
Faced with this threat, the competent authorities are monitoring the situation “24 hours a day”.
Budapest has adopted several preventive measures to respond to the expected arrival of the Danube floods, such as the closure of two underground public transport stations.
Meanwhile, the river level is slowly falling, both in Budapest and in towns north of the capital, such as Vac, Esztergom and Komárom.
“We have already overcome the most critical phase,” although the next few days will be “difficult,” said ultra-nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Saturday after visiting several affected cities.
The head of government estimated that the surge in water flow will leave Hungarian territory in five days.
Authorities have declared a second-degree alert in Paks, south of Budapest and home to the country’s only nuclear power plant.
“The plant’s facilities, which play a key role in the national electricity supply, are adequately prepared,” said a source from the Ministry of Energy.
Thousands of soldiers and volunteers have been involved in the installation of barriers along more than 750 kilometres of the riverbank in recent days.
Several towns were cut off on Saturday, including Kisoroszi, north of Szentedre Island, while in smaller towns such as Tahitótfalu and Leányfalu, on the banks of the Danube, houses, restaurants and other properties were submerged by the water.
In Dunafüred, south of Budapest, several properties were evacuated as a precaution.
Despite these weather-related events, meteorologists are predicting sunny and rain-free weather for the next few days.
Source: Observadora
