Radio România Internațional

Tag: extreme weather phenomena

  • October 20, 2024 UPDATE

    October 20, 2024 UPDATE

    PROJECT Romania’s Prime Minister, Social-Democrat Marcel Ciolacu, who is running in the upcoming presidential election, on Sunday presented his ‘Project for Romania’. Raising the citizens’ purchasing power, protecting young people and the Romanians in the Diaspora and ensuring the country’s industrial development are among its main objectives. 14 people are presently running in the upcoming presidential elections – ten backed by political groups and four independents. Nicolae Ciuca, leader of the National Liberal Party, Elena Lasconi, from the Save Romania Union, George Simion from the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, Kelemen Hunor from the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and the former deputy secretary general of NATO, the independent Mircea Geoana, are some of the main candidates. The first round of the presidential election is due on 24 November and the second round on 8 December. Between the two rounds, Romanians will go to the polls again to elect their MPs. We recall that this year Romania saw all kinds of elections. In June the Romanians cast their ballots for the local administration and the European Parliament.

     

    TENNIS The Romanian table tennis player Bernadette Szocs and Austrian Sofia Polcanova on Sunday became silver medalists in the European Table Tennis Championships in Linz, Austria. The two lost in the finals 3-2 to the Czechoslovakian pair Hana Matelova/Barbora Balazova. Also on Sunday Szocz got silver in the singles against her partner in doubles, Sofia Polcanova, who won the match 4-1. Romania’s delegation in Linz consisted of 11 players, six in the women’s competition and five in the men’s contest.

     

    WEATHER The duration and frequency of heat waves in Romania have significantly increased in the past years, and by 2040, hot temperatures will be affecting roughly 50% of the urban population – the latest national weather report says. According to the document, entitled Romania’s Weather State 2024, drought is another major challenge as the affected surfaces of farmland have also increased of late. The forecast also mentions the increased frequency of extreme weather phenomena, such as severe thunderstorms. And although climate change has been recognized as a serious issue, only 4% of the Romanians consider it a priority at national level. Most of the interviewees have attached higher importance to economic development, the report also says.

     

    FESTIVAL Bucharest is presently seeing the 34th edition of the National Theatre Festival, unfolding this year under a suggestive motto, “Dramaturgy of the Possible”. Until October 28th, theatre goers are offered the opportunity of watching a series of performances, a selection which, according to organizers, is aimed at expressing various possible scenarios. The edition’s official selection includes over 30 performances mounted by theatre troupes from all over the country. Among these there is the Anthology of Disappearance by Radu Afrim, William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, directed by Andrei Serban, and Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen. This year’s edition has also brought together theatre troupes from abroad, from Germany, Ireland, Poland and Belgium. The event has been produced by the Theaters Union in Romania, UNITER.

    (bill)

  • Extreme weather phenomena in northwestern Romania

    Extreme weather phenomena in northwestern Romania

    This spring has been very whimsical in Romania, which was faced with many extreme weather phenomena, a consequence of climate change, as experts say. In early May, the south of Romania was hit by an average tornado, which is a rare phenomenon in this country. Trees were uprooted and tens of houses were left without roofs. Since the onset of spring, meteorologists have issued many yellow and orange code alerts for strong winds, storms and heavy rainfalls in many parts of Romania and hydrologists have even issued a red code alert for flooding on several rivers, mainly in the north and northwest of the country.



    The weather has been generally unsettled, with torrential rainfalls, thunderstorms, strong winds and hailstorms being reported. On Tuesday, a red code alert for storm was issued for the north of Romania along with several orange code alerts for rain and gale. The big hailstones and the strong winds have wreaked havoc in the north of Romania, causing substantial material damage and destroying extensive crop areas.



    Hundreds of cars have been damaged, scores of trees uprooted and roofs ripped off by the storm. It all happened in only 5 minutes, the sky darkened all of a sudden and outdoor temperatures abruptly reached 20 degrees C. The hailstorm also damaged the walls of buildings and many streets were flooded. The wind speed exceeded 100 km/hour. Many overhead power lines and transformers have also been affected, leaving people in the dark. Several schools in the areas affected by Tuesday’s hailstorm suspended classes due to the extent of the damage.



    According to meteorologists the atmospheric instability reported in the north and northwest of Romania will extend to the rest of the country by the end of the week. A fresh alert for highly unsettled weather has been issued, valid until Saturday morning, for the western regions, to be later extended to the south west, north and center, the hilly and mountainous areas, then to the south, center, east and again to north of the country. Heavy rainfalls, thunderstorms, strong winds and gale will be reported, and the amount of water is expected to exceed 15- 25 l/sqm, and 35-50 l/sqm on isolated areas. (translation by L. Simion)

  • May 6, 2019

    May 6, 2019

    WEATHER -
    The National Meteorological Administration on Monday issued a code yellow alert
    against extreme weather phenomena in place until Tuesday evening for most of
    the country. The south, east and the mountainous regions today will see
    thunderstorms, hailstorms, heavy rain and wind. Heavy rain will also be
    reported in the center, northwest and the southeast. Hail and strong wind will
    be reported locally. Snowfalls are expected in the mountains. Tuesday
    temperatures will drop nationwide.

    SUMMIT IN SIBIU – The Romania-EU 2019 inter-ministry security
    committee has decided to start implementing security measures gradually as of
    today ahead of the EU Summit to be hosted by Sibiu on May 9. Security measures
    are very strict, given the scope and importance of the event. The summit will
    bring together heads of state and government from the EU27 group, 36 official
    delegations, 400 high-ranking guests, some 900 journalists and 100
    interpreters, a record high number. We recall Romania is currently holding the
    rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.

    MOTION -
    The Senate is today debating and voting the simple motion the right-wing
    opposition has filed against Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici. The National
    Liberal Party and Save Romania Union claim Teodorovici should step down as he
    has proven unfit for the job and is thus jeopardizing the economy of the
    country and weakening Romania’s relations with its Euro-Atlantic partners. The
    opposition also criticized the tax on banking assets, as well as the additional
    taxes implemented in the energy and telecom sectors.

    POPE
    FRANCIS – Pope Francis is today continuing his visit to
    Bulgaria. During his meeting with President Rumen Radev, the Pope tackled the
    delicate issue of migration, with nearly half of Bulgaria’s working-age
    population leaving the country in recent years. The Pope warned that
    demographic winter is coming and called on the Government to create conditions
    allowing for young people to stay in the country. Pope Francis also referred to
    refugees, calling on the authorities to let them in. In Sofia, the Pope prayed
    together with Christians. Analysts say that, despite festivities, Bulgaria’s
    relations with the Vatican remain docile. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church is a
    close ally of the Russian Orthodox Church, thus opposing close relations with
    the Vatican. The Pope will next visit North Macedonia and at the end of the
    month he will visit Romania, the second visit of a Pope after John Paul II’s
    visit 20 years ago.

    MULTINATIONALS -
    Germany, France and Italy were the top three countries that controlled
    multinational branches in Romania in 2017. Over 13 thousand of these were
    controlled by foreign enterprises, while 62 thousand were controlled by foreign
    natural persons, the National Statistics Institute reports. Most multinational
    companies in Romania were operating in the trade sector, with a 35% share. 11%
    of them were active in constructions and the manufacturing industry, 9% were
    performing scientific and technical activities while 8% were involved in real
    estate.

    TENNIS – Romanian tennis
    player Mihaela Buzarnescu (29 WTA) is today playing twelve seed Anastasija
    Sevastova of Latvia in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open, totaling 7
    million dollars in prize money. Another two Romanians have advanced to the
    second round. On Tuesday, third-seed Simona Halep will play Johanna Konta of
    Great Britain (47 WTA) while Sorana Cirstea will take on Caroline Garcia of
    France. Halep won the Madrid Open twice, in 2016 and 2017. In 2018 she reached
    the quarterfinals.

    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • RO-ALERT extended to cover weather phenomena

    RO-ALERT extended to cover weather phenomena

    Fickle and
    unpredictable, weather has this year managed to spoil the mini-holiday
    Romanians had over Easter and May 1st, the International Labour Day.
    On Tuesday, the south of the country, Bucharest included, was affected by
    storms and heavy rain. According to a report drawn up by the General
    Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, more than one thousand firefighters had
    to be deployed in order to help local authorities and the population. They
    helped drain the water from the basements of several houses and public
    institutions and removed the trees and utility poles felled down by wind. In
    Calarasi County, a medium-size tornado forced a bus off the road and overturned
    it in a nearby field, leaving 12 people injured. The tornado, the second ever
    reported in Romania after the one in 2002, has also damaged dozens of houses. Central
    authorities have therefore decided that the RO-ALERT warning system should also
    be used to send warnings concerning severe weather. The measure was adopted by
    the Emergency Department of the Interior Ministry and the National Meteorological
    Administration. The head of the department, Raed Arafat, has stated that the
    legislation regulating the functioning of the RO-ALERT system has not been
    completed yet, but the system will issue new types of warning, by means of a
    procedure that will be finalized until Monday.


    Together
    with our colleagues from the National Meteorological Administration we have
    established certain situations, such as squalls turning into storms, which is a
    code red warning case, or code orange phenomena which can turn into code red
    situations and have a major impact. Also, people can be warned about hail
    storms and other extreme events that weather experts say are dangerous by means
    of a warning issued through the RO-ALERT system in the affected area. We also
    talked about taking into account the 112 calls from areas under such codes, where
    unpredictable situations occur, so the RO-ALERT system can be activated in
    those places too.


    For the
    information to be submitted promptly, a direct line will be set up between the
    General Inspectorate for Emergency situations and the National Weather Forecast
    Centre, as Elena Mateescu, the director of the National Meteorological
    Administration explains:


    Legislation
    must now be adapted in order for the National Meteorological Administration to
    observe certain procedures and regulations in force. By Monday we will have
    established the type of weather events to be covered by the RO-ALERT warning
    system, the thresholds that have an imminent potential of turning into
    dangerous situations in the respective areas.


    Specialists have
    warned that the RO-ALERT system is merely a warning system and it does not work
    like a ‘weather radar’ that identifies by itself weather phenomena or other
    dangerous situations.

  • Losses from extreme weather

    Losses from extreme weather

    Blizzards,
    snowfalls, fog and freezing rain caused lots of damage in Romania last week,
    when meteorologists issued several code yellow alerts for bad weather and dozen
    of reports warning of hydrometeorological hazards. According to the interior
    ministry spokesperson Monica Dajbog, severe weather phenomena affected roads
    and households in Bucharest and some 50 towns and villages in 20 counties
    across the country. Several roads were blocked and lots of cars were damaged by
    falling trees. Two motorways were closed, just like 19 county roads and one
    national road. Last week, from Friday until Saturday, some 8,000 firefighters,
    police and gendarmes acted in order to save people trapped in their cars
    because of snow storms or thick fog in mountain areas. Also, they helped clear
    the trees and electricity poles which were felled down by the extreme weather
    phenomena and helped guide or redirect traffic during such missions. Thus,
    firefighters and road police cleared some 2,200 trees and 44 poles that damaged
    some 360 vehicles. Now temperatures are rising, and this is posing a new
    threat, as icicles are melting from roofs and trees:

    We
    are trying not to pass under eaves and balconies.


    It’s
    funny that every year we are faced with the same problem.


    It’s
    extremely dangerous for both cars and passengers, we must be extremely
    careful.


    It’s
    dangerous to walk under the trees, so I had to walk in the middle of the road.


    I don’t
    think I would have received any damages and I would have been so upset as I did
    not get to use the car, because I just bought it.


    At the weekend,
    the number of households which did not have electricity had reached 150,000
    according to data provided by the Energy Ministry, and the most affected
    counties were those in the south and south-east of the country. Also, air
    traffic was difficult, and delays were reported because of time-consuming
    deicing operations. Road traffic too was hampered by the ice that covered the
    power supply lines, and many trains were delayed because of that.