Lower areas of Margaret Island will be reinforced with sandbags, the statement said on Saturday, adding that depending on the flood situation, the island could be closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic mid-next week.

The lower embankment of the Danube is expected to be flooded on Tuesday, the office said. Several sections of the Pest lower embankment and the entirety of the Buda embankment will be closed from 8pm on Monday.

The latest forecasts indicate that the Danube's water level will peak at over 8 metres in the second half of next week.

Flood Alert Issued for Budapest

Based on forecasts by the national water-level service, Gergely Karacsony, the mayor of Budapest, has issued a second-degree flood alert along all flood protection sections of the River Danube in the capital, the mayor's office said.

The lower embankment of the Danube is expected to be closed to traffic from next Monday, the statement said. Starting from midnight on Friday, parking will be prohibited in the area, it added.

The Danube's water level is expected to peak at around 8 metres in the second half of next week, the statement said.

Govt spokeswoman: Flood protection efforts started

Flood protection efforts have been started, the government spokeswoman said on Sunday.

Eszter Vitalyos said on Facebook that she was on the way to Leanyfalu, north of Budapest, and added that flood protection activities had been started at the ferry station parking lot in Pocsmegyer.

She expressed thanks to all volunteers and flood protection experts for their work and urged everyone to join the efforts.

After arriving in Visegrad, Vitalyos said the latest forecast showed that the water level could again reach the record highs registered in 2013.

She called on everyone to take the situation seriously and those living in flood areas to move their belongings and animals to safety.



Orban on Flood Protection: 'It Will be Hard but We Will Manage'

Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in a Facebook video on Sunday, said flood protection efforts in Hungary over the coming days "will be hard but we will manage".

"I'm standing at the Romai embankment in Budapest right now, an area that will be impassable a day from now," the prime minister said in the video. "By tomorrow, the large mass of water that is expected to arrive will be where my head is right now, and two metres above that in another day or two. But the water management experts are confident because they say the highest water level won't exceed the record high."

"They say that if we could handle the highest-ever flood levels then we can handle a lower one as well," Orban said.

He said the three critical areas were the Szigetkoz island plain in north-western Hungary, the Danube Bend and Budapest. The technical liaison officers are in place and will be the ones helping the volunteers "to make sure that all the goodwill shown by the people in the protection efforts is arranged in a meaningful way", he added.

The prime minister said all the technical and financial resources needed for the protection efforts were in place.

Orban said Interior Minister Sandor Pinter is in charge of disaster management, adding he was certain that the minister would do a good job handling the flood protection efforts. "And he's got the government, and -- if need be -- the prime minister behind him. It will be hard but we will manage," Orban added.



President Sulyok Wishes Perseverance, Much Strength for Flood Protection Efforts

Sulyok highlighted the participation of soldiers and people who are "already fighting a tough battle with the increasing water level".

He added that water management experts forecast record high water levels on the Carpathian Basin stretches of several rivers, and the flooding will soon reach Hungary.

Pinter: Flood Protection on Danube, Leitha Adequate

The interior ministry is organising the flood protection on the Danube and Leitha rivers adequately, Interior Minister Sandor Pinter said in Gyor, in north-western Hungary, on Sunday.

Forecasts indicate that the water levels of the Danube and the Leitha will nearly reach or even exceed the peaks registered in the flood of 2013, Pinter told a press conference, adding that major defence efforts were needed on the two rivers.

The government has instructed the interior ministry to organise the flood defence work, Pinter said.

The national disaster management and national water management authorities have marked the areas where the rising water levels can cause emergency situations, such as the need to raise the height of the dams or evacuate the locals, he said.

"I'm convinced that there won't be any evacuations because we can confine the water between the adequate barriers," he added.

The European Union is also supporting the defence efforts via the Copernicus emergency management service, he said.

The Hungarian Armed Forces has some 17,000 people ready to aid the flood defence work, he said.

Pinter also said that the assistance of the public may again be needed just as in 2013, adding, at the same time, that those who decide to help should only go where the disaster and water management authorities ask.

Orban Checks Flood Protection Preparations

Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday visited sites along the River Danube at the border of Budapest and Pest County to check flood protection preparations after recent heavy rains, his press chief said.

Bertalan Havasi said Orban had been briefed by water management experts and Energy Ministry officials in charge of flood protection about projected water levels and necessary measures for the whole of Hungary.

DefMin: Hungarian army prepared for flood protection

The Hungarian army stands ready to help with flood protection operations if need be, Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky, the defence minister, said on Friday.

According to the meteorological services, heavy rains between 50-220 millimetres are expected to trigger floods on the Danube, Mura, Lajta and Raba rivers in Hungary, Austria and Czechia over the next couple of days.

The army's units assigned to participate in flood defence were put on alert and started conducting drills on Friday morning and the necessary communication channels with regional defence committees have been activated, defence minister said in a statement.

It cited army chief Gabor Borondi as saying that in line with the disaster management action plan, the army was ready to respond fast and effectively contribute to flood protection operations by ensuring personnel and technical conditions.

"Our resources including land and areal technical equipment will provide for the public's protection," he said.

Payouts on storm damage claims exceed HUF 10bn

Hungarian insurers have paid out more than HUF 10bn on claims for storm damage between May and August, the Association of Hungarian Insurance Companies (MABISZ) said on Friday.

So far this year, insurers have paid out more than HUF 10.3bn on over 86,000 claims. Payouts were down HUF 3bn and claims were 20,000 fewer than in the same period a year earlier.

MTI Stock Photo - for illustrative purposes only

Source: 
MTI - The Hungarian News Agency, founded in 1881.

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