The 1970 floods in Romania, brought on by river swelling caused by torrential rains, high winds and a heat wave that melted snow in the
Carpathian Mountains,
["Embattled Rumanian City Bolsters Dike for Next Phase of Flood", ''The New York Times'', June 6, 1970, p.10] were the worst in modern
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
n history in loss of life, and caused the most damage up to the
2006 floods: at least
$500 million;
[Albala-Bertrand, J. M. ''Political Economy of Large Natural Disasters'', p.188. Oxford University Press (1993), ] perhaps over $1 billion.
["Rumanians Evacuated in Flood Threat", ''The New York Times'', May 25, 1970, p.2]
Flooding
![CeausescuSatuMare1970](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/CeausescuSatuMare1970.jpg)
The floods began around May 12 and lasted into mid-June. 209 people were killed, 41,000 houses were damaged or totally destroyed (leaving at least 265,000 homeless),
over a million arable acres were inundated, over 100,000 sheep, pigs, cows and chickens (including over 35,000 head of cattle)
drowned, 146 factories were idled at least temporarily, and over of highway required repair. At least 240,000 people were evacuated, some repeatedly.
37 of Romania's then 39
counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
were severely damaged, with 230 towns and villages hit in just the first twelve days,
["Rumania Expands Rescue Effort As Toll in Floods Is Put at 200", ''The New York Times'', May 24, 1970, p.19] including
Sighișoara
Sighișoara (; hu, Segesvár ; german: Schäßburg ; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Schäsbrich''; yi, שעסבורג, Shesburg; la, Castrum Sex) is a city on the Târnava Mare River in Mureș County, Romania. Located in the historic region of Transy ...
and
Mediaș
Mediaș (; german: Mediasch, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Medwesch''/''Medveš'', hu, Medgyes) is the second largest town in Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania.
Geographic location
Mediaș is located in the middle basin of Târnava Mare River, ...
, the women and children of which were evacuated to centres in hill villages while the men salvaged possessions.
Airports, including those at
Sibiu
Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...
and
Satu Mare, were flooded and closed. Railway systems were damaged, and landslides blocked roads and carried away telegraph lines.
Broadly speaking, floodwaters moved from the northern and central regions toward the Danube lowlands in the south and east.
The
Prahova,
Târnava
The Târnava (full name in ro, Râul Târnava; hu, Küküllő; german: Kokel; tr, Kokul or Kokulu) is a river in Romania. It is formed by the confluence of the Târnava Mare and Târnava Mică in the town of Blaj. The Târnava flows into the ...
,
Olt
Olt or OLT may refer to:
People:
* Károly Olt (1904–1985), Hungarian politician
* Mike Olt (born 1988), American baseball player
Places:
* Olt County, a county (județ) of Romania
* Olt (river), a river in Romania
** Olt Defile, a defile that ...
(threatening
Râmnicu Vâlcea
Râmnicu Vâlcea (also spelled ''Rîmnicu Vîlcea'' or, in the past, ''Rîmnic-Vâlcea'', ) (population: 92,573 as per the 2011 Romanian census) is the county capital ( ro, Reședință de județ) and also the largest town of Vâlcea County, centr ...
and
Slatina)
and
Tisza
The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa, is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. Once, it was called "the most Hungarian river" because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national borders.
The Tisza be ...
rivers were among those affected, as well as the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
(which rose up to 6½ ft above normal spring high-water levels, flooding docks and port installations in
Turnu Severin
Drobeta-Turnu Severin (), colloquially Severin, is a city in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania, on the northern bank of the Danube, close to the Iron Gates. "Drobeta" is the name of the ancient Dacian and Roman towns at the site, and the modern ...
),
Prut
The Prut (also spelled in English as Pruth; , uk, Прут) is a long river in Eastern Europe. It is a left tributary of the Danube. In part of its course it forms Romania's border with Moldova and Ukraine.
Characteristics
The Prut originates ...
and
Siret
Siret (; german: Sereth; hu, Szeretvásár; uk, Серет, Seret; yi, סערעט, Seret) is a town, municipality and former Latin bishopric in Suceava County, northeastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Bukovina. Siret is ...
.
As crests rolled onward, downstream localities knew to fear the worst: for instance,
Galați and
Brăila knew by June 3 that floods from three weeks earlier would reach them on June 11, the question being if their dikes would hold. The neighbouring Soviet Union and Bulgaria were not nearly as threatened, as the Prut and Danube banks are steep and high on their shores.
The floods also came in phases: for instance, the waters were just beginning to recede when on May 23–24 renewed heavy rain and snowfalls raised their level again.
Significant resources were mobilised to fight the waters and their effects. Medical teams toured most areas of the country warning people not to drink polluted water (many drinking water installations were destroyed) and inoculating all citizens aged 2 to 55 against
typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...
.
Thousands of soldiers and civilians worked around the clock to build miles of new dikes and reinforce old ones.
Political ramifications and international response
The floods had political ramifications as well. General Secretary
Nicolae Ceaușescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He ...
took personal direction of some emergency measures in the Brăila and Galați areas, particularly sensitive because their heavy industry and
grain shipping centres are near the Danube, Prut and Siret, all three of which were swollen and which merge four miles (6 km) upstream from Galați. On May 22, wearing a black turtleneck sweater, workman's cloth cap and farmer's jacket, Ceaușescu and high
Romanian Communist Party leaders spent hours superintending the completion of a five-mile (8 km)-long earth and timber dike at Brăila.
In foreign policy, the floods offered him an opportunity to continue Romania's independent foreign policy, which sought to keep its distance from the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. While at the height of the floods, he made a sudden trip to
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
, followed a week later by Prime Minister
Ion Gheorghe Maurer
Ion Gheorghe Iosif Maurer (23 September 1902 – 8 February 2000) was a Romanian communist politician and lawyer, and the 49th Prime Minister of Romania. He is the longest serving Prime Minister in the history of Romania (having served for ...
, this worried Romanians and Ceaușescu then toured the country, saying over and over in speeches to flood victims that his policy remained unchanged—national independence and sovereignty, noninterference in the internal affairs of other states, equality between governments and between Communist parties, and the right of each party to shape its own policies.
["Independent Rumanians' Spines Stiffened by Disasters and Soviet Pressure", ''The New York Times'', June 10, 1970, p.12]
The provision of foreign aid also reflected this independent course. The single largest relief payment, the equivalent of $400,000, came from the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, then embroiled in the
Sino-Soviet split
The Sino-Soviet split was the breaking of political relations between the China, People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union caused by Doctrine, doctrinal divergences that arose from their different interpretations and practical applications ...
. The first relief plane came from
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
; Romania was the only Eastern Bloc country to have relations with Israel at the time. Aid from the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
soon followed, but a week passed before the USSR sent a message and an offer of aid. Moreover, Western companies offered to repair or replace damaged industrial equipment they had furnished:
the Galați iron and steel plant (Romania's largest) was built with Western expertise and equipment against Soviet opposition.
Over a dozen countries, including
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
and
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, gave aid.
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
aid organisations promised 50 tons of food, children's clothing and medicine, while
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
sent a number of mobile water-purification units. A special fund was set up in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
to assist flood victims; money poured in from factory groups throughout Romania. In one Bucharest institute, 100 donors a day gave blood, while scores of foreign diplomats gave clothing and household items.
Aftermath
Reflecting a drive for development and modernisation, the regime embarked upon a national land-improvement programme following the floods, covering drainage, irrigation, soil erosion, navigation, power, research and training in a comprehensive approach that departed from mere reliance upon control structures. Not only did Romania cope with the floods; it brought in specifically designed alleviative and preventive measures.
The floods were mentioned in at least one literary work:
Marin Sorescu
Marin Sorescu (; 29 February 1936 – 8 December 1996) was a Romanian poet, playwright, and novelist.
His works were translated into more than 20 countries, and the total number of his books that were published abroad rises up to 60 books. He ha ...
's 1976 play ''Matca'' ("The Matrix"). During the rains, a woman gives birth to her child while her father is dying in an adjacent room. As the waters close in on her, her sole thought is to raise the baby above her head in an effort to save it.
The main goal of building the
Stânca-Costești Dam, completed in 1978, was to protect villages down the
Prut
The Prut (also spelled in English as Pruth; , uk, Прут) is a long river in Eastern Europe. It is a left tributary of the Danube. In part of its course it forms Romania's border with Moldova and Ukraine.
Characteristics
The Prut originates ...
river from floods.
["Sate distruse pentru barajul de la Stânca" ("Villages Destroyed for the Stânca Dam")]
''Monitorul de Botoșani'', 19 August 2008; accessed May 30, 2010
Image:1970crossMilitari.JPG, A memorial cross to the victims, raised in Militari
Militari is a district in the western part of Bucharest, in Sector 6. It is home to more than 100,000 inhabitants.
In the past a village called "Militari" existed here, but today there are only few houses left from that time.
The earliest housing ...
, Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
, soon after the floods.
File:1970. Posta aeriana inundatia.jpg, 1970 airmail stamp
An airmail stamp is a postage stamp intended to pay either an airmail fee that is charged in addition to the surface rate, or the full airmail rate, for an item of mail to be transported by air.
Airmail stamps should not be confused with airma ...
Notes
{{reflist
Floods in Romania
In Romania, 1970 Floods
Floods In Romania, 1970
1970 disasters in Romania