Hungary’s firefighters were alerted to some 2,200 locations, the national disaster management authority said. Most of the emergency calls came from Budapest, as in just a short hour more rain fell on the city than the average for August.

The disaster management authority said the downpour flooded basements, uprooted trees and damaged cars and brought down lampposts. Several banks, hospitals, libraries and underground parking garages were also flooded.

The downpour also resulted in public transport delays as a number of services had to be halted. Some 45,000 homes in Budapest were left without electricity, but provider Elmű reduced that number to some 7,000 by Tuesday afternoon.

Most customers would have the service restored by the evening, the company said. A spokesman explained that the problem was caused by inundated basements in central Budapest’s 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 13th districts, containing the company’s transformers.

The storm caused serious damage in Somogy and Veszprém counties in western Hungary. About one hundred children had to be rescued from a youth camp in Veszprém county due to severe flooding, while the city hall in Tapolca, western Hungary, had to be shielded with sandbags.

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MTI photo: Szigetváry Zsolt