The fire departments deployed 502 responders to storm-damaged sites; their work was helped by 310 volunteer firemen's associations and ambulance services from 72 organisations, and 74 members of local authorities' fire departments, the statement said.

The professional fire department of Hajdu-Bihar County has been on 24/7 alert since Wednesday morning, which means a 50-strong reinforcement. The counties of Csongrad-Csanad, Hajdu-Bihar, Pest and Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg have also received reinforcements from lesser-hit counties, the statement said.

By Wednesday morning, the number of households without electricity was reduced to 21,765.

Due to the storms on Tuesday, 16 localities were left without running water in Hajdu-Bihar County because of damaged power lines, but services were restored before 10pm, the statement said.

The national weather service HungaroMet forecast showers and storms early on Wednesday near the north-east borders, and stiff north-easterly winds in north-west and central Hungary.

Meanwhile, Orban: More storms expected today and tomorrow, 'we can breathe sigh of relief by the weekend'

Weather forecasts show more storms coming today and tomorrow, but "we can breathe a sigh of relief by the weekend. Let's look after each other," Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Facebook on Tuesday.

In a video posted after a visit to the emergency transport centre of national railway and coach company MAV-Volan, Orban said: "It's mostly young people who work here; they are enthusiastic and dedicated." 

The prime minister expressed thanks to all the workers for their persistent efforts to keep the railways operational despite the weather disruptions.

"The fact that they managed to improve the situation a lot last night was mainly thanks to their dedication," Orban said. "We thanked them for the work but I can tell that the tasks are not yet over, because forecasts show that storms can be expected even tonight, especially on the Pecs-Budapest line, then on the way towards Szolnok, that can cause difficulties."

He added that he was certain the outcome would not depend on the people working in the centre. "They also direct the buses from here that can be used to rescue people stuck on trains, so they can be transported to their destination. This is the centre and heart of rescue operations in times of emergency," he said.

Orban said the forecasts showed difficulties for today and tomorrow but afterwards the situation is expected to become easier.
 

Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881. While MTI articles are usually factual, some may contain political bias, and readers should be aware that such content does not reflect the position of XpatLoop, which is neutral and independent.

Since the goal of XpatLoop is to keep readers well briefed, right across the spectrum of opinions, MTI items are shared to ensure readers are aware of all narratives within the local media.

XpatLoop believes in empowering readers to form their own views through complete and comprehensive coverage. To facilitate this XpatLoop has a balanced range of news partners, as you can see when you surf around XpatLoop.com

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