Severe storms and flash floods cause widespread damage in Romania
Severe storms and torrential rainfall have caused widespread damage, triggered landslides, and flooded homes across several counties in Romania. The severe weather heavily impacted the eastern region of Moldova and eastern Muntenia, leaving communities devastated as meteorologists issued a new yellow warning for ongoing storms.
The most critical situations are reported in Prahova, Buzău, Iași, Vrancea, and Constanța counties. In Vrancea, rainfall exceeded 80 liters per square meter in certain areas, causing local creeks to overflow and destroy infrastructure.
An affected resident captured the destruction on video, stating: “Look, brothers, what is here. The creek came, the creek broke right here like this. Look, brothers, it took corrugated iron sheets, it took everything. It also knocked down the fence over there, it knocked down everything.” When asked by another local if something was blocked, he replied: “No. It is too much water.”
In Prahova County, approximately 80 households became completely isolated after heavy floods destroyed bridges and submerged access roads to several villages. Meanwhile, in Ilfov County and the capital city of Bucharest, urban drainage systems failed to handle the massive volume of water.
Within less than an hour, streets transformed into raging rivers, rapidly flooding residential houses and basements.
One citizen recorded the rising waters, shouting: “Man, good people, look how big it is. Didn't I tell you it gets bigger? Look, men. How is that man sleeping here, man?”
The severe rainstorms were accompanied by heavy hail in multiple locations, causing damage to crops and property.
A local resident remarked on the phenomenon: “The hail is as big as sparrow eggs. This is when nature takes revenge on us.”
The severe weather also caused major disruptions in the coastal city of Constanța, where 64 liters of water per square meter fell in just 40 minutes. The deluge flooded main traffic arteries, heavily hindering local circulation and the intervention of emergency rescue teams.
According to meteorological forecasts, weather instability will persist across the country over the coming days. Although the storm-affected areas are expected to shrink significantly, experts warn that localized severe episodes will continue to bring massive amounts of precipitation within very short timeframes.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
