been evacuated and the reported death toll rose to 21.
In Hungary, where the Christian BosNewsLife News Agency has its headquarters, the government declared a state of emergency after rain and melting snow swelled rivers and flooded towns across the region.
The Christian relief organization World Vision said earlier it was particular concerned over the
situation in neighboring Romania where it feared that 75 percent of the country may be threatened by heavy flooding.
In most areas impoverished villagers have no insurance and rely on aid from, often faith-based, foreign groups fighting the violent rivers.
FILLING SANDBACKS
As in nearby countries, residents in Hungary’s capital, Budapest, have also been working around the clock to fill sand bags in a desperate fight against the rising water of the Danube River. Some low-lying places in downtown Budapest were already under water. Traffic signs almost disappeared Thursday, April 6, as main roads next to the river have been submerged by water.
Even the parliament building was in danger and there remained concern over the situation around Budapest’s Margaret Island, a popular tourist spot, famous for its thermal baths, medical treatment and luxury hotels.
Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurscany described the situation in the capital and across the country as "dramatic." He told reporters his government "set up a special government coordination committee to continuously monitor the water levels to see how high the river will rise."
The boyish prime minister has himself been filmed filling sand bags, but denied accusations that this was just to win votes for Sunday’s general elections, saying sandbags have no party color. His former-Communist-turned-Socialist Party is expected to win a second term in office for the first time since the democratic changes began in 1990.
BRIEF APPEARENCE
The brief appearance of Gyurscany has done little to calm down residents, and some parts of this city of roughly two million people had to be evacuated from their submerged homes. Up to 10,000 troops and rescue workers have been involved in shoring up the river’s burst banks.
Rescue workers have been warning people of rising water and advised them to abandon parts of Budapest’s old underground railway system.
Elderly residents told BosNewsLife they never saw so much water. "I have been living here 50 years," said 70-year old Terezia Halasz as she anxiously watched the rising Danube, Europe’s largest waterway. "It is terrible."
Diplomats are also concerned. Kristina Eineborg, the Swedish Cultural Attache, nervously watched the nearby dyke. "We just moved the Swedish Embassy Offices here. I am happy we are at the fourth floor," she told BosNewsLife. "It is amazing, but also terrifying. My colleague told me that even water has come into the metro system, so we do hope it will end soon," Eineborg added.
While Budapest received much support, government efforts to keep the rivers from spilling over have come too late for dozens of flooded towns and villages, including Dunaszentpal, near the border with Slovakia. An elderly Dunaszentpal villager, Gyorgy Goldstein, told a reporter he fears his house will collapse.
"VERY NERVOUS"
"I am very nervous. My house has been through three floods since the 1960s. So, this will be flood Number Four. I don’t think my house is strong enough to survive this one," he said as he tried to make his way through the water.
Hungary fears a repeat of the situation in Romania, to the east, and Slovakia and the Czech Republic, to the north, where populations in low-lying areas have been put on alert. In the Czech Republic, where several people have died, thousands have been evacuated and anti-flood barriers raised in Prague and other regions.
Czech officials declared a state of emergency in several areas, and in the historic city of Olomouc, 250 kilometers east of the Czech capital, thousands of people had to be evacuated. Austria, Germany and Slovenia were also effected. In nearby Austria, as in Hungary, the Danube remained closed for shipping.
The Danube was expected to crest at nine meters in Hungary, breaking a record set in 2002. Some scientists have blamed global warming for the floods and there have been calls to improve the infrastructure in Eastern Europe. Analysts have warned that the economic damage will last long after the cities and towns have recovered physically from the floods. In Hungary, a predominantly Catholic nation, many Christians were believed to pray the floods will soon be over amid fears of more rain this spring.
