Hundreds of houses flooded, water level continues to rise

Persistent heavy rain near the Prut and Nistru rivers caused floods that affected approximately 140 houses in Drepcauti village in Briceni district. Four of these houses were destroyed completely. Eighty-five houses were flooded in Criva village in the same district. Seven of these were damaged. The floods also affected Lipcani, Valcinet, Ocnita, and Otaci. According to the Civil Protection and Emergencies Service, the total number of flooded houses added up to 272 this morning. No casualties have been reported. A number of 626 persons have been evacuated from the area. The floods damaged roads and agricultural fields, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to spokesperson Tatiana Corceac, the firefighters worked round the clock and managed to avoid a number of tragedies. Eighteen children have been evacuated from the Placement Center in Soroca town. Six persons, including two children, caught by the heavy rain in the wood near Molovata village in Dubasari district have been saved. Six persons sailing on an improvised raft on the whirling Nistru have been rescued. About 1,800 children have been evacuated from the camps located in Vadul lui Voda town, on the bank of the Nistru. The people holidaying in this recreational area have been also evacuated. This morning, the flow capacity of the Nistru at the water works in Novodnestrovsk was 4,000 cubic meters per second, at the water works in Dubasari – 2,100 cubic meters per second, while in Cernauti – 3,000 cubic meters per second. The level of water in the Nistru went up as a result of the heavy rain in Lvov region. The river’s flow capacity in Lvov region rose to about 5,000 cubic meters per second, while in the Prut to approximately 3,000 cubic meters per second. The multiannual average is 150-250 cubic meters per second in the Nistru and 50-80 meters per second in the Prut. Consequently, the water level has considerably increased. Since Friday evening, the water in the reservoirs in Dubasari and Costesti has been removed in order to allow the coming water to go into. The water level today is expected to be the highest. The flow capacity could reach 3,500 cubic meters per second at the Dubasari dam. Romanian hydrologists say the floods in the seven affected counties - Suceava, Iasi, Botosani, Neamt, Satu- Mare, Maramures and Salaj – have caused five deaths. About 13,000 people have been evacuated, while several hundreds of people have been isolated in 174 flooded settlements. Experts say that the flow capacities of the Prut and Siret rivers reach such levels only once in a century or even seldom.