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ACT Alliance Rapid Response Fund Payment Request: Cold Snap and Severe Snow Fall, Romania

20 Feb 2012 09:29

Source: member // ACT Alliance - Switzerland

Rapid Response Payment Request No. 2

Funds Sent To: Ecumenical Association of Churches in Romania - AIDRom

Amount Sent: 49,846 USD

Date: 17 February, 2012

Details of Response

Emergency: Romanian Authorities Declared State of Emergency After Cold Snap and Severe Snow Fall. 

Date of Emergency: 27 January – 15 February 2012 (still ongoing)

Requesting Member: Ecumenical Association of Churches in Romania - AIDRom

Details of the Emergency:

The arctic conditions have already claimed hundreds of lives around Europe. Since the end of January, Eastern Europe has been pummeled by a record-breaking cold snap and the heaviest snowfalls in recent memory. Conditions in Romania remain tough, and the plight continues to make international headlines as one of the worst affected country by Europe’s deep freeze. The bad weather hit Romania almost two weeks ago, when it started snowing heavily and temperatures dropped to record lows. Tens of thousands of people have been trapped for more than a week in the Southern and South-Eastern counties because of the excessive amount of snowfall.

The cold snap which began in late January has killed so far 84 people who died from hypothermia after nights when temperatures dropped consecutively to -25 degrees Celsius. According to the most recent estimations, more than 20,000 families are affected, which means more than 90,000 people are snow-bound across these regions on South and South – East Romania isolated in their villages.  The roofs of about two dozen houses collapsed under the weight of the snow. 259 villages from 19 counties of Romania (Mehedinţi, Gorj, Dolj, Olt, Vâlcea, Argeş, Teleorman, Giurgiu, Dâmboviţa, Prahova, Ilfov, Ialomiţa, Călăraşi, Constanţa, Tulcea, Brăila, Buzău, Vrancea and Galaţi) are sealed off by the snow which has also caused power outages and feed shortages for farm animals. 

Like always in such dramatic situation, the worst affected are mostly the poor village people. People have been trapped inside their houses in tens of villages in these counties. Bulldozers are clearing off paths in villages, leaving walls of snow meters high. Authorities have slowly started to reach some villages and media has brought to attention desperate cases of people who live in unheated homes, have no water, no access to food, medicine, electricity. A total number of 161 county roads are closed.

The Romanian rail network CFR canceled 413 trains due to heavy snow on the lines. Over 3,500 schools nationwide are affected by the bad weather. In 6 counties the County Committees for Emergency Situations decided to suspend classes both in the rural and urban schools, 897 schools are closed. Village shops are in the impossibility to make commodity acquisitions and to open. Romanian Post is unable to deliver the pensions of the elders from the rural areas. In addition, water supply infrastructures in the affected regions have significantly deteriorated. Many villages don’t have a water pipe line system; therefore they are still relying on the water well fountains from the yards. Therefore access to fresh water and food is very limited.

Actions to Date, and Emergency Needs:

Authorities proclaimed a state of emergency after the heaviest snow in 65 years, meanwhile warning of flooding, when the snow thaws and breaches dams. Across the affected regions, soldiers, civil defense workers as well as thousands of emergency workers and volunteers have been deployed round the clock, trying to help with rescue actions and bring assistance for the people in distress. Hundreds of people rescued are accommodated in school buildings, monasteries, hospitals, army tents, sport facilities. Local mayors are providing basic assistance – food and shelter - for those accommodated in community buildings.

The National Defence Ministry is monitoring the situation in the country, through the specialized structure of the General Staff and has deployed 8,000 militaries and almost 2,000 technical means to operate emergency interventions, to take land and air actions in the support of public local and central authorities, for limiting the effects of snowfalls and blizzard and for saving human lives, for food and basic necessity goods distribution and for clearing the snow of some access ways.

The Government adopted a resolution regarding the allocation of about 56,000 Euro to the Braila, Buzau, Calarasi and Vrancea counties, the most affected by the blizzards that hit Romania in the last days. The aid consists in diesel fuel, liver pate, canned pork meat and mineral water. This is a first aid offered by Romania's Government to the stranded people and in the coming period, given the austerity measures the country has taken (Romania, with Europe's second-poorest economy, is still stuck in recession) will be analyzed the financial possibilities for all the localities having been affected by the blizzard.

Centres for collecting non-perishable food have been opened in less affected towns from the western, central and eastern part of the country, where citizens can make donations to help people in distress living in the places that have been isolated by snowfalls. About 4,000 Romanian coal miners volunteered to buy tins of food from the money the company gives them for their daily hot meals and donate that to the worst-affected snow victims in eastern Romania.

Land access to many affected regions is still very difficult or not possible at all at the moment, army vehicles and helicopters are delivering supplies to the isolated communities. Local and county authorities are working to re-establish road access to all areas in order to create conditions for humanitarian aid deliveries foreseen for the upcoming days, from various directions. AIDRom is in contact with several communities through local church-ministers, who are giving regularly updated information and data regarding the scale of the calamity, the needs of the people. 

An appeal has been made by the Government through the national media to civilians, NGO’s and volunteers to help and assist as much as possible (according to their capacity and possibility of assistance) on the people in distress, under the “Romania Needs You” solidarity aid program, mentioning that a joint winter assistance program is vital in the coming weeks.

Starting with 15th of February 2012, an assessment team of 2 from AIDRom Emergency Unit managed to surveys along with other volunteers, with the assistance of the army, some of the affected counties from southern Romania (Mehedinţi, Teleorman, Ialomiţa, Călăraşi). At the same time, the team also carried with them to the affected areas 150 winter sleeping bags, 40 electrical home heaters and 4 gasoline power generators (purchased with the assistance of Diakonie Emergency Aid Germany through a bilateral capacity upgrading program in 2010) to be used by the rural community crisis teams.

The team reports that the situation in the affected areas can be described as highly dramatic. It is currently impossible to reach all of the isolated villages. Needs for emergency relief commodities like vital food staples such as canned food, flour, rice, sugar, oil, water and tea, as well as infant baby food along with basic household necessities like laundry detergent, dish soap, male and female personal hygiene items, towels, are overwhelming at the moment in many parts of the country.

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